#ThrowbackThursday: JLo and Ja Rule
I vaguely remember growing up and hearing “Cuz I’m real, and I…”. About two years ago, a few celebrities started crying #AllLivesMatter, among them being Jennifer Lopez. After Ti did a video discussing this two years ago, she reminded me the song is called “I’m Real”.
After one of those stale award shows aired and JLo and Ja Rule performed their song I’m Real, I have been bumping it non-stop. And I soon after discovered Ain’t It Funny.
Lovelytea Review: Matcha Raspberry Tea
Matcha tea made its way to U.S. hip coffee shops all the way from Japan. It comes in the form of a green powder, that is actually ground green tea leaves.
Most people enjoy matcha in the form of a dairy drink (watch how Lovelyti makes a mixed fruit matcha smoothie recipe).
Personally, I try not to consume dairy. Instead, I do my best to consume 2 liters of water a day. I put about a teaspoon of matcha in my water every day. The natural raspberry flavor makes me eager to drink more water through out the week. While I prefer to enjoy my matcha in the form of flavored water, traditionally, many prefer hot matcha tea.
My 50g of the raspberry matcha lasted 3 weeks when I used half a teaspoon per 1.5 liters of water every morning, and sometimes another half a teaspoon per 1.5 liters of water in the afternoon. Besides the sweet, delicate flavor matcha can be a great morning drink, as it has a third the caffeine as a cup of coffee.
All in all, if you are not familiar with matcha I definitely recommend trying this smooth blend. If you are not new to matcha then check out premium choice matcha.
Get yours here: Lovelytea Raspberry Match Tea
Also check out: Vanilla Matcha Tea Blueberry Match Tea Latte Flavored Matcha
Fire kills 10 children at slumber party – no adults were home at the time, officials say
CHICAGO – How, how, how? The question weighs on investigators as they work to determine what led to a Chicago house fire that killed 10 apparently unaccompanied children who had gathered for a slumber party at a West Side home.
Illinois authorities are investigating allegations of neglect, officials said Tuesday, but provided little additional detail — adding to a litany of questions about what started the fire and why the children weren’t able to get out.
Eight bodies were discovered Sunday after firefighters put out the fire. Two more victims, both 14, later died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, said Natalia Derevyanny, a Cook County Bureau of Administration spokeswoman.
The fire started on the second floor of a coach house in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, fire officials said. Those same officials said there were no smoke detectors in the home, but Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel told reporters there were no functioning smoke detectors in the home.
Meanwhile, the building owner and his attorney have told local media the home did have smoke detectors.
The first floor of the building was vacant, and the second floor, where the children were found, was a home.
In an editorial lamenting the lack of answers surrounding the blaze, the Chicago Sun-Times quoted a fire official saying that it appears the kids could have escaped had they been alerted to the danger.
“From what we could see, they would have had a clear path out if they had been alerted early enough,” fire department spokesman Larry Langford said.
On Monday, Chicago fire officials passed out smoke detectors and fire safety information in the neighborhood.
As for why so many children were left alone in the home, a family member told CNN affiliate WGN the children were at the house for a sleepover and that his mother had been with the children earlier.
“My mom went to go drop off my little sister to her grandmother’s and by the time she was over there, I guess the house just started on fire,” said Marcos Contreras, who lost several siblings in the blaze.
A neglect investigation was opened after fire officials said there were no adults in the home, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services spokesperson Alissandra Calderon said in an email.
Questions have been raised about the state of the property. The building, a coach house, sits behind the main house, a three-story brownstone. Building records show that code enforcement officials have cited issues with both the main house and coach house since 2007, but there is no indication a code violation led to the fire.
The Chicago Fire Department said in a midday Wednesday tweet that the cause of the fire had yet to be determined.
“Engineering analysis pending on an electrical device unrelated to earlier violations,” the tweet said, adding that the Office of Fire Investigations was still awaiting reports from other agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
More people might have died if not for a woman who smelled the fire and started knocking on doors and ringing doorbells to wake people up, Chicago Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago said.
Firefighters forced entry through a locked door into the small two-bedroom apartment, Langford said.
“Kids were just laying about,” he said.
It appears that none of the children tried to escape the blaze and that they likely died of smoke inhalation, he said.
Firefighters initially mistook several children for adults because they were covered in soot, making it difficult to determine their ages, Langford said. Firefighters went by body size, and some children had facial hair and looked older, he said.
The victims were part of at least two families, Langford said.
Officials have released the names of eight victims: 3-month-old Amaya Almaraz; Ariel Garcia, 5; Giovanni Monarrez, 10; Xavier Contreras, 11; Nathan Contreras, 13; Victor Mendoza, 16; Cesar Contreras, 14; and Adrian Hernandez, 14.
Mom charged after drugs in breast milk killed baby, prosecutors say
In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, prosecutors are arguing that 30-year-old Samantha Jones killed her 11-week-old son, R.J., by breastfeeding while using drugs.
According to the criminal complaint, R.J. died from ingesting a “combination of fatal drugs through breast milk” and is being charged with criminal homicide.
Jones’ attorney, Louis Busico, said that Jones “absolutely, unequivocally loved that child” and never intended to harm him.
According to an affidavit, Jones told investigators that about 3 a.m. April 2, she heard R.J. crying.
He had been primarily breastfed, Jones said, but she had recently started using formula because she worried that he wasn’t getting enough milk and wasn’t sleeping. She was too tired to make a bottle of formula, according to the affidavit, so she decided to nurse him. She then dozed on and off for a few more hours.
Before her husband, Vincent McGovern, left for the day, he made R.J. a bottle and left it with Jones. She remembers feeding R.J., putting him back in his bassinet around 6:30 a.m. and going back to sleep.
In the affidavit, Jones said she woke up about an hour later and panicked when she saw that R.J. was pale and had bloody mucus coming out of his nose. Jones and her mother, who also lived in the house, called 911 and began CPR.
R.J. was taken to a hospital by ambulance and pronounced dead by 8:30 a.m.
According to the Bucks County Coroner’s Office, the autopsy revealed traces of methadone, amphetamine and methamphetamine were found in the infant’s blood and contributed to his death.
The affidavit further noted that the examiner who performed the autopsy said “R.J. ingested the combination of fatal drugs through breast milk.”
According to the affidavit, Jones told the investigators that she had been prescribed methadone since pregnancy to help manage her addiction to opioid painkillers, but there is no mention of other drugs.
Investigators say they tested the bottle last used to feed R.J., as well as the can of formula, and found no traces of illicit drugs.
Since her arrest, Busico said, his client is “completely in a state of depression.” He added that the charges and arrest kicked Jones when she was already down, dealing with the death of her child.
When asked about amphetamine or methamphetamine drug use by Jones, Busico would not comment.
At Jones’ preliminary hearing on Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney Kristin M. McElroy argued that the child died because Jones had taken methamphetamine and amphetamine, “which had no business being inside that baby,” according to a press release from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office,
“We are not alleging that this was an intentional killing of this baby,” McElroy said, “but it certainly was reckless to know these drugs were in your body and continue to breast feed.”
The criminal homicide charge was upheld and Jones now awaits a formal arraignment on September 28.
Busico said Wednesday he was not surprised by the decision.
“The judge’s ruling today is no surprise given the low burden on the government,” he said. “Samantha is not criminally responsible for her son’s death — this is a fact pattern in search of a crime.”
Through her attorney, Jones declined to speak with CNN.
via: https://pix11.com/2018/08/29/mom-charged-after-drugs-in-breast-milk-killed-baby-prosecutors-say/
Facebook video of young children smoking marijuana leads to arrests
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Two women have been arrested on child abuse charges after a Facebook video showed multiple young children smoking what appeared to be an illegal substance provided to them by the women.
Michaela Pearson and Candice Little are each charged with felony child abuse and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to Winston-Salem police.
The children were 2 and 3 years old and 18 months old, according to arrest warrants.
Officials believe Pearson and Little caused and encouraged the children to smoke marijuana.
The children were taken to a hospital where they are being treated.
Pearson and Little are being held on $150,000 secured bonds.
Woman Tried Feeding Remains of Husband’s Ex-Girlfriend to Alligators After Couple Murdered Her
A North Carolina woman was convicted last week of helping her husband get rid of his ex-girlfriend’s dismembered body — first by trying to dissolve the remains in acid, then by throwing them into a Texas creek in the hopes alligators would eat them.
Amanda Perry Hayes, 46, was convicted of tampering with evidence, according to a press release from Fort Bend County prosecutors in Texas.
She and husband Grant Hayes had already been convicted of second- and first-degree murder, respectfully, in the 2011 death of Grant’s ex, Laura Ackerson, the release states. The couple killed Ackerson in their apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina, before cutting up her body and transporting it in coolers to Hayes’ sister’s home in Richmond, Texas.
Once Ackerson’s body was in Richmond, the couple tried to use muriatic acid to destroy it. They then took it on a boat onto Oyster Creek and “dumped Laura’s body parts into the water with hopes that alligators would eat her remains.”
At trial, Amanda Hayes testified she didn’t kill Ackerson and only helped dispose of her body because her husband threatened to kill her. The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before rejecting her defense with their guilty verdict, the release states.
Prosecutor Amanda Bolin tells PEOPLE Amanda Hayes had admitted on the stand that she had never been physically abused by her husband, though Bolin says, “There’s evidence that Grant Hayes is a violent person and that he’d been violent with Laura [Ackerson].”
Amanda Hayes was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum allowable. She was ordered to serve the sentence consecutive to the 13 to 16 year sentence she received in North Carolina.
Grant Hayes is already serving a life sentence without parole in North Carolina for Ackerson’s murder, Bolin says, adding that Texas prosecutors saw no need to prosecute him for allegedly disposing of Ackerson’s body.
Bolin says that Ackerson was a “very independent, very bubbly” person who was “always smiling and happy.” At the time of her death, she had recently started two businesses related to graphic design.
She was a mother to two boys who were toddlers at the time of her death. “Nothing in the world meant more to her than those two little boys,” Bolin says.
PEOPLE’s call to Amanda Hayes’ attorney Patti Sedita was not immediately returned and it was unclear whether she plans to appeal.
McCain family bid tearful farewell CNN Reports
Thank you for your service Senator. You were a TRUE American patriot .
Teen battling brain cancer told wig breaks school dress code
DALLAS, Texas – A Texas high school senior battling brain cancer has won the fight to wear her blue-black wig after school officials told her it was a violation of the dress code.
McKinney ISD, located north of Dallas, announced Sunday that they have reversed their decision and will allow Kate Pepper to wear the wig.
“I feel a relief, and I am honestly hoping that if anyone else is going through my circumstances that this will help them along the way as well,” Pepper told CNN affiliate KTVT.
Pepper, 17, has been battling her second bout of brain cancer. A week before her senior year, she made the tough decision to shave her long, braided hair, which had started falling out from cancer treatments. The teen documented her journey throughout her treatments on YouTube.
“Losing your hair is always the tough part about having cancer,” Pepper said in a YouTube video. “But at the end of the day, I know I can make it through and that my hair will grow back.”
Pepper was sad that she wouldn’t be able to express herself through her hairstyle the way she had in the past. But before the start of her senior year, she and her mother went wig shopping and found the perfect one.
“After a few days of us looking I was able to hide my baldness and show my strength with a two tone turquoise and black wig that symbolizes confidence, integrity and power, to help me weather through the storm,” she wrote in a letter to the school that her mother posted on Facebook.
“This wig makes me feel normal, confident and other wise pretty during a time in my life where I have so many things I can’t control. …. I’m empowered by wearing this wig although it’s subtle in color it gives me an abundance of strength and power to grieve the loss of my hair, and gives me the fortitude I need to fight this battle I’m facing with cancer.”
After administrators told her the color of the wig violated the dress code, her mother, Tyliece Pepper, took to social media to share her dismay and soon her story was featured on the local news.
It even caught the attention of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. “I support clear rules for students but I am asking McKinney ISD to create an exception to their dress code and allow Kate Pepper to wear her beautiful wig,” Patrick tweeted on Sunday. “I will send a formal communication to the district tomorrow.”
When officials announced she will be able to keep wearing her wig, Patrick sent out another statement in support for her.
“I am very glad to hear McKinney ISD has made an exception for Kate so she can wear her turquoise wig during treatment,” he tweeted. “Let’s keep Kate in our prayers.”
via: https://pix11.com/2018/08/28/teen-battling-brain-cancer-told-wig-breaks-school-dress-code/
John Goodman reveals Roseanne will be killed off in ‘The Conners’ spinoff
Dan Conner had a heart attack in the second-to-last-season cliffhanger of “Roseanne.” He survived. Until he didn’t.
John Goodman’s character, it was revealed by Roseanne in the last season’s closing minutes in 1997, had really died at his daughter’s wedding. The audience spent 24 episodes believing he pulled through. Roseanne’s narration explained she constructed a fantasy to cope.
It was one of the most divisive moments in recent television history when the show ended, but in this year’s short-lived revival, Dan was very much alive after the show opened with a self-aware joke about the controversy.
Now, following Roseanne Barr’s racist Twitter rant in May that prompted ABC to cancel the revival mid-season and spin off the series in “The Conners,” Goodman has said how the show will address the matriarch’s absence.
She’s dead, Goodman explained.
And this death might finally stick.
“I guess he’ll be mopey and sad because his wife’s dead,” Goodman said of his blue-collar-hero character Dan in an interview with the Sunday Times.
The often media-shy Goodman opened up about Barr’s controversial departure that drew reactions from President Trump, whom Barr supports.
In May, she made references to President Barack Obama’s former adviser Valerie Jarrett and apes. Jarrett is black. The tweet in late May read: “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.”
[NBC announced John McCain’s death — then abruptly cut to men kissing in dolphin masks]
ABC canceled her show a day later, and President Channing Dungey called her tweet “abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.” Trump appeared to reference the cancellation days later, calling it a “double standard” for conservatives after comedian Samantha Bee made a vulgar comment about his daughter, Ivanka.
Read more via: John Goodman reveals Roseanne will be killed off in ‘The Conners’ spinoff
Check out Lovelyti’s video: Valerie Jarrett responds to Roseanne’s Twitter rant+ was this a humiliation ritual??