Actress Lindsay Lohan arrived on time to her court-ordered community service at a morgue on Friday, after nearly jeopardizing her probation one day earlier by turning up late and being refused entry.
The troubled star dressed somberly in black and arrived prior to her 7am start at the Los Angeles County Morgue to begin court-ordered community service, performing tasks such as cleaning toilets, mopping floors and emptying trash bins.
The Mean Girls actress, 25, had been on probation as part of her sentence for stealing a gold necklace from a jewelry store earlier this year, but on Wednesday, a judge revoked probation after she failed to adequately serve her community service punishment at a women’s center in Los Angeles.
The judge sent Lohan, instead, to the morgue and set a new hearing for Nov. 2, to decide if Lohan in fact violated probation and, as a result, should go to jail.
Lohan had been scheduled to begin work at the morgue on Thursday, but was late. Her spokesman blamed the tardiness on confusion over the morgue’s entrance location and the media gathered outside.
Also in trouble with the law is Michael Douglas’ imprisoned son, who pleaded guilty to a new drug charge Thursday, admitting that he managed to get drugs in prison even while he was cooperating with the government in a drug investigation.
Cameron Douglas, 32, pleaded guilty to a narcotics possession charge, saying, “God knows I’m sorry about this situation.”
Although the charge carries the potential for a 20-year prison term, a plea deal with prosecutors recommended Douglas serve between a year and 18 months in prison. His sentencing was set for Dec. 21.
Michael Douglas, who was not in court, said in a statement that his son’s offense involved a small user-quantity of drugs.
“Cameron accepts full responsibility for his conduct,” the father said. “While he has made much progress, he is still not cured. Most people and their families are able to address this illness privately and outside the spotlight. Unfortunately this has not been possible here — for reasons completely outside of his control. He thanks those that have rooted for his recovery and looks forward to the day when he will not disappoint.”
The plea came just two weeks after Cameron Douglas testified as a government witness against a co-defendant facing drug charges. The testimony was part of the cooperation he promised when he was sentenced to five years in prison after his arrest in July 2009 for dealing methamphetamine from a high-end Manhattan hotel.
While Cameron Douglas has admitted his guilt, rapper Soulja Boy has said he is innocent of drug and weapon charges after being arrested and freed on bail last week in Atlanta, Georgia.
“I’m innocent man. I love you all. I just want you’ll to know I’m innocent,” the hip-hop singer posted late Tuesday on Twitter after putting up US$10,000 in bail money to secure his release, reported news outlet CBS Atlanta.
The 21 year-old rapper, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, three of his bodyguards and a driver each were arrested earlier Tuesday on felony charges of possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm.
On Tuesday night, the rapper took to Twitter to thank his fans and promote his new documentary biopic Soulja Boy: The Movie that was also released on Tuesday.
“I missed 10 interviews today for my new movie! to those companies
I’m sorry. you can see I had a lil situation. the show must go on,” the rapper tweeted.
Soulja Boy first rose to fame after his single Crank That became a hit.
In more upbeat news, a satirical pop song implicitly comparing Russians planning to elect Vladimir Putin as their president in March polls to patients of a psychiatric hospital has gone viral on the Russian Internet.
“Our madhouse votes for Putin/Our madhouse will be glad to have Putin,” a rock band sings to video footage of pyjama-clad patients and masked doctors dancing manically.
Last month, Putin announced a plan to reclaim the presidency in March presidential polls in a move that could keep him in power until 2024.
The victory of the former KGB colonel, who already occupied the top Kremlin post between 2000 and 2008, is virtually assured in the March polls.
“I feel that they stole our constitutional right to choose and that is what incenses me most of all,” the band’s frontman Alexander Semyonov said.
The video appeared on YouTube last week and has been watched almost 200,000 times.
To view the video, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuQXfwvwdQE.
During the Japanese colonial era, remote mountain villages were almost exclusively populated by indigenous residents. Deep in the mountains of Chiayi County, however, was a settlement of Hakka families who braved the harsh living conditions and relative isolation to eke out a living processing camphor. As the industry declined, the village’s homes and offices were abandoned one by one, leaving us with a glimpse of a lifestyle that no longer exists. Even today, it takes between four and six hours to walk in to Baisyue Village (白雪村), and the village is so far up in the Chiayi mountains that it’s actually
The Taipei Times reported last week that housing transactions fell 15.3 percent last month, to under 20,000 units. However, the market boomed for the first eight months of the year, and observers expect it to show growth for the year as a whole. The fall was due to Central Bank intervention. “The negative impact of credit controls grew evident for the third straight month,” said Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) research manager Tseng Ching-ter (曾敬德), according to the report. Central Bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) in October said that the Central Bank implemented selective credit controls in September to cool the housing
These days, CJ Chen (陳崇仁) can be found driving a taxi in and around Hualien. As a way to earn a living, it’s not his first choice. He’d rather be taking tourists to the region’s attractions, but after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the region on April 3, demand for driver-guides collapsed. In the eight months since the quake, the number of overseas tourists visiting Hualien has declined by “at least 90 percent, because most of them come for Taroko Gorge, not for the east coast or the East Longitudinal Valley,” he says. Chen estimates the drop in domestic sightseers after the
Dec. 16 to Dec. 22 Growing up in the 1930s, Huang Lin Yu-feng (黃林玉鳳) often used the “fragrance machine” at Ximen Market (西門市場) so that she could go shopping while smelling nice. The contraption, about the size of a photo booth, sprayed perfume for a coin or two and was one of the trendy bazaar’s cutting-edge features. Known today as the Red House (西門紅樓), the market also boasted the coldest fridges, and offered delivery service late into the night during peak summer hours. The most fashionable goods from Japan, Europe and the US were found here, and it buzzed with activity
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