RIHANNA ABUSES DONALD TRUMP ON PUERTO RICO CRISIS...

Caribbean singer Rihanna is adding her voice to the chorus of people calling on Trump to send more aid to the island.  

On Wednesday she tweeted a CBS News video at the president, which detailed the devastation suffered there.

—- @realDonaldTrump ——> https://t.co/fE1Rd3bMDp

— Rihanna (@rihanna) September 27, 2017

"I know that leaders aren't supposed to cry...But we are having a humanitarian crisis here," San Juan mayor tells @DavidBegnaudpic.twitter.com/pa7Hd6HZ1n

— CBS News (@CBSNews)September 26, 2017

Then, on Thursday, she directed him to Wednesday's New York Daily News front page about the disaster.

"Don't let your people die like this," she wrote.

Dear @realDonaldTrump I know you've probably already seen this, but I just wanted to make sure!
Don't let your people die like this.pic.twitter.com/mDO848JAUx

— Rihanna (@rihanna) September 28, 2017

She also praised the five former presidents who on Monday launched a joint effort to raise funds to benefit the U.S. territory.

Round of APPLAUSE to these gentlemen for taking control of this devastating situation!!!#CaribbeanGirl #OneLove https://t.co/vTeuPwOvEV

— Rihanna (@rihanna) September 28, 2017

Though he secured billions in funding for relief in Texas and Florida, Trump has yet to ask Congress for a disaster relief package that would benefit Puerto Rico.

On Thursday, after almost a week of pressure to do so, he waived the Jones Act, a shipping law that's hindered Puerto Rico's ability to receive aid.

At @ricardorossello request, @POTUS  has authorized the Jones Act be waived for Puerto Rico. It will go into effect immediately.

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec)September 28, 2017

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LIBRARIAN REJECTS MELANIA TRUMP'S DONATION OF DR. SEUSS BOOKS...

One of Melania Trump‘s favorite books is Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!,” which she read with her son, Barron, “over and over” when he was younger.

The first lady, who is increasingly carving out a public profile for herself, chose the classic children’s book and nine other Dr. Seuss titles to send to an elementary school in Cambridge, Mass., in celebration of “National Read a Book Day.”

But a librarian at Cambridgeport School refused to accept the gift, criticizing Trump administration education policies and images in the books.

Seuss’s illustrations are “steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes,” librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro wrote in a letter to Trump on Tuesday.

The librarian wrote that rather than sending books to a well-funded elementary school in Cambridge, Trump should instead be devoting resources to schools in “underfunded and underprivileged communities” that are “marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.” Critics view DeVos, a billionaire who has worked for decades to promote school choice, or alternatives to traditional public schools, as one of the most anti-public-education secretaries in the department’s history.

Giving the books was part of Trump’s effort to use her platform “to help as many children as she can,” White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said.

Those efforts include hosting a roundtable discussion Thursday about the opioid epidemic, including how it affects youths, and speaking at a luncheon on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly about work she hopes to do as an anti-bullying advocate.

The Department of Education chose one high-achieving school in every state to receive a package of books from Trump, according to a statement from the White House.

“Turning the gesture of sending young school children books into something divisive is unfortunate, but the First Lady remains committed to her efforts on behalf of children everywhere,” Grisham said.

In her letter to children receiving the books, Trump called getting an education “perhaps the most important and wondrous opportunity of your young lives.”

“Your education will be a lifelong pursuit that will sustain and carry you far beyond your wildest imagination, if you will let it,” she wrote. “Remember, the key to achieving your dreams begins with learning to read.”

On Sept. 6, she encouraged everyone to read a book, and to let every page “take you on an exciting journey.”

The Cambridge school system released a statement saying the librarian “was not authorized to accept or reject donated books on behalf of the school or school district,” according toCBS Boston.

“We have counseled the employee on all relevant policies, including the policy against public resources being used for political purposes,” the district said in the statement. Representatives from the school system did not respond to requests from The Washington Post for comment.

Phipps Soeiro points to recent literature that addresses potential racism in Seuss’s work, including a book by professor of children’s literature Philip Nel that argues Seuss’s depiction of the Cat in the Hat wasbased on racial stereotypes and inspired by traditions of blackface entertainment.

She also calls Seuss “a bit of a cliché” and a “tired and worn ambassador for children’s literature” in her letter posted on the Horn Book, a publication covering literature for children and adults.

Many of the comments on Phipps Soeiro’s post commended her for taking a stand, but others suggested she was “rude” and “ungrateful” not to have accepted Trump’s gift.

“I am appalled by this. How about teaching our children to be grateful for a gift, accept the gift and say thank you?” a commenter wrote, responding to Phipps Soeiro’s post.

Parents outside the school told CBS Boston they supported the librarian’s statement.

“I think the letter is really articulate, constructive in its suggestions,” said parent Alex Vanpraagh.

Seuss has long been associated with children’s literacy. The National Education Association’s annual “Read Across America” day — when cities and towns across the country host events to celebrate reading — is March 2, Seuss’s birthday.

“One of the reasons we partnered with Seuss 20 years ago in 1997 was to kick-start this program,” NEA spokesman Steven Grant told theSchool Library Journal.

“That was the strategy up front, so kids would see Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat and spark some attention.”

He said an estimated 45 million students and teachers take part in the reading events annually, and that in the past two years, the program’s mission has been shifting toward promoting diverse literature.

But the author still has many admirers, including President Obama, who said he is “still a big Dr. Seuss fan” when he visited a library in Southeast Washington in 2015.

 He hailed Seuss as “one of America’s revered wordsmiths” in a presidential proclamation on 2016’s Read Across America Day.

“Theodor Seuss Geisel — or Dr. Seuss — used his incredible talent to instill in his most impressionable readers universal values we all hold dear,” Obama wrote.

“Through a prolific collection of stories, he made children see that reading is fun, and in the process, he emphasized respect for all; pushed us to accept ourselves for who we are; challenged preconceived notions and encouraged trying new things.”

But Phipps Soeiro wrote that as first lady, Trump has “world-class resources” that she could have used to make a choice other than the Seuss books.

“Just down the street you have access to a phenomenal children’s librarian: Dr. Carla Hayden, the current Librarian of Congress,” she wrote. “I have no doubt Dr. Hayden would have given you some stellar recommendations.”

She noted that in Cambridge, where yearly per-pupil spending is more than $20,000, her students have access to “a school library with over nine thousand volumes and a librarian with a graduate degree in library science.”

“So, my school doesn’t have a NEED for these books,” wrote Phipps Soeiro, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

Other school libraries in cities including Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit are being closed because of expansion, privatization and school choice, she wrote.

“Are those kids any less deserving of books simply because of circumstances beyond their control?” she asked.

The Department of Education could not be reached for comment about its criteria for selecting Cambridgeport School or the other 49 schools.

The 10 books on the list are: “Seuss-isms!”; “Because a Little Bug Went KaChoo”; “What Pet Should I Get?”; “The Cat in the Hat”; “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!”; “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”; “The Foot Book”; “Wacky Wednesday”; “Green Eggs and Ham” and “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

Phipps Soeiro suggested a reading list of her own 10 books for the first lady and President Trump — “it’s the librarian in me,” she wrote — that focused on themes including children standing up to racism, trying to connect with parents who are incarcerated because of their immigration status and who integrate aspects of their countries of origin into their new countries.

On Tuesday, the elementary school’s Twitter account shared a photo of books it recommends.

PLAYBOY MAGAZINE FOUNDER HUGH HEFNER DEAD AT 91...

The founder of Playboy, Hugh Hefner, has died, the iconic brand has confirmed.

In a tweet on its official channel, Playboy said Hefner, also the star of the E! reality TV series The Girls Next Door, died today, or Wednesday night local time, at the age of 91.

A statement from Playboy said Hefner died “peacefully” and “from natural causes” at The Playboy Mansion. He was “surrounded by loved ones”.

Born Hugh Marston Hefner on April 9, 1926 in Chicago, Hefner, known to most as “Hef”, introduced America to the world of Playboy in December 1953 and ever since, it has been one of the most recognisable brands in the world.

He went on to claim to Esquire in 2013 that he had bedded “over a thousand” women.

The first ever issue of Playboy featured a nude Marilyn Monroe on the cover after he raised US$8000 from friends and family to launch the magazine. It was produced in his kitchen and carried no date because he was sure the title wouldn’t make it to a second issue.

By the end of his life he had built a multi-million dollar empire of clubs, casinos, clothing, mansions, movies, perfumes and much more.

Afterwards, Hefner credited Monroe for his fame and told Vanity Fair he has reserved a crypt next to the starlet for US$75,000 at the Westwood Village Memorial Park mausoleum.

Hefner is survived by his wife Crystal, four grown children, Christie, who served as CEO of Playboy Enterprise for more than 20 years, David, Marston and Cooper, who currently serves as Chief Creative Officer at the company, Playboy said.

“There were chunks of my life when I was married,” he told Esquire.

“And when I was married, I never cheated. But I made up for it when I wasn’t married. You have to keep your hand in.”

A statement from Hefner’s son, Cooper, said his father “lived an exceptional and impactful life” and credited him for “advocating free speech, civil rights and sexual freedom”.

CONMAN EXPOSED ON BBC's WATCHDOG SHOW HANGS HIMSELF AFTER COURT SEIZED HIS PROPERTIES...

A locksmith conman, who was exposed on BBC's Rogue Traders for charging shut-out residents rip-off prices, killed himself after being made homeless, an inquest heard.

Mark Makowski, 46, hanged himself in a Travelodge hotel room, in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, just weeks after being released from prison and having all of his assets seized. He appeared repeatedly on Rogue Traders and Watchdog before being sent to prison in 2010, having been convicted of fraud offences in connection with his locksmith business.

During his trial, a jury was told how Makowski, who drove a Ferrari and traded from plush offices, used a card reader to charge customers and insisted they pay on the spot. He would charge a flat fee of around £128 to get residents back into their properties after they had been locked out. But in at least three cases, residents were shocked to find the final bill totalled more than £1,000.

Makowski ignored a stream of complaints about his incompetent and amateur workmanship, but was finally arrested and charged with fraud in 2008 after trading standards officers set up a sting operation.

He was found guilty of 15 counts of fraud by false representation after being filmed in action by officers posing as members of the public.

The inquest heard Makowski was also forced to sell his house and most of his assets to repay his elderly and vulnerable victims.

But when he failed to pay £700,000 imposed under a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) order, he was sent back to prison on December 8, 2016.

Makowski was released from HMP Ford in West Sussex, on March 27, 2017, just weeks before he was found dead on April 12.

However his friends, who were present at the inquest at Hertfordshire Coroner's Court on Wednesday, said that the lack of help from the prison service, Broxbourne Borough Council and his doctors were to blame for his suicide.

Brian Findel-Hawkins, who was the last person to speak with Mr Makowski, said: 'If the council had helped and the doctors had helped with a housing form he wouldn't be dead right now.

'I wrote letters saying that Mark Makowski would kill himself if you didn't help him.'

The court heard that Makowski was only told that he was leaving prison two hours beforehand and that the prison service did not help him find accommodation.

Makowski was only able to live in the Travelodge because one of his friends was paying for it and he would have been living on the streets otherwise.

10-YEAR-OLD GIRL TORTURED WITH HOT IRON BY GUARDIAN.

A guardian, Mr. ThankGod Madubuchi, and his wife, Juliet, have been arrested by policemen from the Ilupeju division, for allegedly torturing a 10-year-old girl, Chinansa, with a hot iron.

Chinansa who happens to be ThankGod’s niece had been living with his family at their house on Anjorin Street, Mushin, Lagos State, for some time.

ThankGod and his wife were alleged to have always assaulted the victim over minor offences, as appeals from neighbours fell on deaf ears.

However, matter came to a head on Tuesday, September 5, when the couple used a hot iron to torture the victim.

She was reportedly accused of licking powdered chocolate beverage (tea) without permission.

The couple were said to have locked her up in the house, which drew the attention of residents who alerted officials of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team.

An official of the agency told our correspondent that neighbours attested to the regular abuse of Chinansa.

He said, “The abuse had been going on for a long time. We were informed that in the past, the man’s wife used razor blades to cut her in different parts of the body because she mistakenly tore her (Juliet) clothes. The neighbours didn’t raise the alarm that time because they thought the couple would change until the one that happened on that Tuesday.

“The girl was accused of licking powdered beverage without permission and the man used a hot iron to torture her. He then locked her up in the house without taking her to a hospital. Residents, who feared for the girl’s life, alerted the DSVRT.”

Policemen from the Ilupeju division arrested the couple as two officials of the DSVRT and an officer of the Child Protection Unit rescued the victim from the house.

The couple were arraigned  before a family court at the Ogba Chief Magistrate’s Court on counts bordering on child abuse.

The defendants, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, were granted bail by the Chief Magistrate, T. Akanbi.

While Juliet was granted bail on self recognition because  she was nursing a  six-month-old baby, the husband was granted bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties each in like sum.

A DSVRT survivor advocate, Mrs. Tumininu Oni, appeared in court with the Investigating Police Officer, Inspector Roseline Ilekhue, who was represented by one Inspector James.

The case was adjourned till September 20, 2017.

NIGERIA'S PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR, MAKES AMERICA'S GOT TALENT FINALS...

Sosoliso plane crash survivor, Kechi Okwuchi, has moved on to the finals of the America’s Got Talent (AGT) Season 12. 

AGT is an American reality television series and talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of one million dollars.

Okwuchi won the final `Dunkin Save’ of the season on Wednesday to make it to the finals after impressing the judges and audience with her beautiful rendition of songs. The news shared on the twitter handle of the talent show, @AGT on Thursday, stated: “That time @Kechi won the final #DunkinSave of the season and became a finalist. #AGTResults.”

She joins 9-year old Angelica Hale, Mandy Harvey, Light Balance, dance group Diavolo and the previously qualified contestants after getting enough votes from viewers to push her through. She received a ‘yes’ from each of the four America’s Got Talent judges with her performance of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ during her audition in June.

Okwuchi is one of the two survivors of the ill-fated Sosoliso Airline Flight 1145 which crash killing 107 passengers on December 10, 2005. The crash occurred 20 minutes to landing while Okwuchi was on her way to Port Harcourt for a Christmas holiday alongside about 61 other students from her school, Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja .

Okwuchi suffered third-degree burns, over 65 percent of her body. She received her first major treatment at Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa. Two years later, Okwuchi and her family moved to Houston to continue her medical treatment at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Galveston, Texas, United States.

In 2015, she graduated from the University of Saint Thomas, in Texas, USA, with a First Class Degree. The inspiring Okwuchi has undergone and survived over 100 surgeries.

She has gotten invitation into six honour societies, including the International Economics Honour Society.

READ WHY HAIR TURNS GRAY AND GOES BALD.

Scientists have pinpointed the cells that cause hair to turn gray and to go baldin mice, according to a new study published in the journal Genes & Development.

Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center accidentally stumbled upon this explanation for baldness and graying hairs—at least in mouse models—while studying a rare genetic disease that causes tumors to grow on nerves, according to a press release from the center.

They found that a protein called KROX20 switches on skin cells that become a hair shaft, which then causes cells to produce another protein called stem cell factor. In mice, these two proteins turned out to be important for baldness and graying. When researchers deleted the cells that produce KROX20, mice stopped growing hair and eventually went bald; when they deleted the SCF gene, the animals’ hair turned white.

“Although this project was started in an effort to understand how certain kinds of tumors form, we ended up learning why hair turns gray and discovering the identity of the cell that directly gives rise to hair,” said lead researcher Dr. Lu Le, associate professor of dermatology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, in a statement.

More research is needed to understand if the process works similarly in humans, and Le and his colleagues plan to start studying it in people. “With this knowledge, we hope in the future to create a topical compound or to safely deliver the necessary gene to hair follicles to correct these cosmetic problems,” he said.

Watch Video: BEWARE OF WHAT YOU EAT IN CHINESE RESTAURANT..

This a video of Chinese cooking rats in place of meat in a Chinese Restaurant. So beware of what you eat in a Chinese Restaurant or eating Chinese food.

MAN FIGHTS ARMED ROBBER FOR STEALING GIRLFRIEND'S PHONE, COLLECTS GUN...

A 22-year-old suspected armed robber, Michael David, has been arrested with two other members of his gang by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos State, after he robbed a lady, identified simply as Kate and her boyfriend, one Desmond, on Close 26, Satellite Town, Ijegun, Lagos, of her phone with a locally-made double-barrelled pistol.

The suspects were said to have taken Kate’s mobile phone and threatened to shoot the couple dead if they resisted. The gang had allegedly mounted a waiting motorcycle and were about speeding off when Desmond summoned courage and attacked the men.

He was said to have succeeded in pulling down David, as his girlfriend called for help. Attempts by the suspect to shoot the victim failed, as the gun reportedly jammed.

The Imo State indigene was reportedly mobbed by residents, who handed him over to the police. The Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Edgal Imohimi, paraded David among seven other suspected robbers at the Police Officers’Mess, Ikeja, on Wednesday.

Imohimi said Desmond and Kate had closed from work and were heading home on August 13, 2017, when they were attacked by the robbers.

He said, “On August 13, 2017, at about 10pm, one Demond and Kate, both residents of Satellite Town, Ijegun, Lagos, were on their way home when they were attacked  at Close 26, Satellite Town, by three armed robbers with one locally-made double-barrelled pistol. The suspects ordered them to surrender their phones or get shot. They dispossessed them of a mobile phone, valued at N39,000, and jumped on their standby motorcycle.

“But the man summoned courage and dragged one of them, Michael David, down from the motorcycle and with the help of passersby, the suspect was arrested and his gun taken away from him. The two other robbers escaped with the stolen property.”

The suspect, who claimed to be a tiler, said he was not the owner of the gun, adding that it belonged to his friend, one Ahmed.

David said his gang had only approached the girl to collect her phone, adding that he was not an armed robber.

He said, “We were coming from a friend’s party around the Waterside area on that day when we sighted the girl passing with her boyfriend. We went to meet her to collect her phone and she suddenly raised the alarm. My friends ran away, but I was caught. I was not caught with the gun. Two to three hours after the incident, some OPC members brought the gun and said it belonged to me. I am not an armed robber and we didn’t attack the girl; we only collected her phone.”

When, however, the Investigating Police Officer challenged him on his denial of the gun, he owned up.

The policeman explained that the suspect had attempted to shoot Desmond and his girlfriend dead when the gun jammed.

“He made an attempt to shoot at them, but the gun disappointed him. He was the one holding the gun,” he said.