Lindsay Lohan returns to Calif. jail in handcuffs

Lindsay Lohan returned to jail in handcuffs Friday after a judge refused to set bail and ordered her to remain in custody for failing a drug test until another hearing nearly a month away.

Bailiffs escorted the troubled starlet from the Beverly Hills courtroom immediately after the hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes. She arrived at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood a short time later, with sheets held up around her to shield her from sight.

It will be Lohan's third jail stint for a 3-year-old drug and drunken driving case filed after a pair of high-profile arrests in 2007.

Before the hearing, the "Mean Girls" star chatted with her attorney, smiling and laughing. But moments before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox took the bench, she began fidgeting with her earrings and looking to the back of the courtroom, where were two bondsmen sat, prepared to post the actress' bail.

Lohan's attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, asked Fox whether Lohan's full probation revocation hearing could be delayed a week.

"I think your client would rather have it on Oct. 22," Fox said, giving the first hint that he intended to send the actress to jail.

Holley rose to argue that bail should be set. "Nope," Fox replied.

"Oh God," Michael Lohan said as bailiffs moved in and his daughter rose and was handcuffed.

Lohan has twice been released early because of overcrowding, with her longest jail stay a 14-day stint on a 90-day sentence earlier this summer.

But this time, the judge's order diminishes the likelihood that Lohan will be released before the Oct. 22 hearing, when her positive drug test will be discussed.

"When you put the judge in a tight spot, he has no alternative," said Barry Gerald Sands, a defense attorney who has represented celebrity clients in drug cases. "She will not get out now."

Court spokesman Allan Parachini said whether Lohan gets credit the time she's serving now depends on whether Fox formally sentences her to jail time later.

"This isn't a sentence," Parachini said. "She was remanded to custody pending a hearing date."

The previous judge handling Lohan's case had said she had to set bail for Lohan because she was facing misdemeanors.

"This judge feels he didn't have to set bail," Sands said, adding that Fox's orders are rarely overturned.

Fox said Lohan had a "positive test for a controlled substance" that he did not identify. He said probation officials are also reviewing Lohan's compliance with other aspects of her probation, which included frequent meetings with counselors.

"I think that the case law is clear that she is entitled to bail," Holley said after the hearing. She would not say whether she would appeal Fox's ruling and left the courthouse with Lohan's mother Dina, who carried her daughter's shoes and jewelry in a clear plastic bag.

Los Angeles television stations followed a car said to be carrying Lohan to jail.

She and her mother had arrived at the courthouse together an hour before, while the actress's father — with whom she's publicly sparred — arrived earlier.

The actress acknowledged failing a court-ordered drug screening last week in a series of Twitter postings.

It was the star's first appearance before Fox, who had said at a previous hearing he would sentence her to a month in jail for each drug test she skipped or failed.

The actress wasn't present for that hearing, which was held hours after her release from rehab.

Lohan seemed to acknowledge an addiction problem after news of her positive drug test broke last week.

"Substance abuse is a disease, which unfortunately doesn't go away over night," Lohan posted on her Twitter feed last Friday. "I am working hard to overcome it and am taking positive steps.

"This is certainly a setback for me but I am taking responsibility for my actions and I'm prepared to face the consequences," her posts said.

The actress remains on probation for a reckless driving and two driving under the influence charges, all misdemeanors. Fox dropped two drug cases at a hearing in August during which he announced Lohan's release from rehab and set out a strict outpatient treatment schedule that included random drug screenings.

Fox has sealed Lohan's court file, but a source familiar with the case has told The Associated Press that the actress' failed test came roughly two weeks after her release from rehab.

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Gun N Roses demand apology for Reading & Leeds, Axl Rose bottled off stage in Dublin

This week the internet has been buzzing about Guns N Roses, type Guns N Roses or Axl Rose into google and you'll get alot of recent entries, we've put together a few of the latest updates since our post on Tuesday.

After the weekend it was reported that frontman Axl Rose was blaming his late appearance on Friday night at Reading Festival on his tour crew not waking him from his 'evening nap'

However, since then Axl took to Twitter to tell his fans that "we went on within' our contracted and documented changeover time period. Whatever other nonsense anyone's choosing to write would appear intentionally false. "

He also went on to say that he wasn't consulted about being booked for Reading & Leeds,
"I didn't organize, arrange, authorize, have knowledge of or was even consulted about our being booked for these shows till after the fact nor did I choose to work with anyone I'm aware of other than our manager who was involved in arranging these dates. Yet it would appear we're amazingly often legally obligated to honor such arrangements whether against our will or better judgment. "
Read Axl's full Twitter post here. You can also watch an interview by NME.com with Festival organiser Melvin Benn, talking a little about Reading. He also told BBC's Newsbeat in response to the band's protests on stage at Leeds Festival on Sunday night; "You have to put on a show and every band is focussed on only their aspect of what a festival is - that a band comes off unhappy is something I'll have to live with."

"In regard to Reading we feel at the very least the fans deserve an apology from those responsible for the nonsense. We'd also like to thank the fans for being so great, singing along n' not tearing the place apart!!" Axl had previously posted on his Twitter after the events.

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Last night Twitter was filled with updates from fans at the bands Dublin gig as the crowd waited close to 90 minutes at the O2 Arena, when the band took to the stage at 10.25pm they were met by a less than happy crowd of boo's and bottles. 20 minutes into the set Axl halted his band during 'Welcome to the Jungle' to warn the crowd, "One more bottle and we go home!"

The frontman continued, "It's up to you. We would like to stay. We want to stay. We want to have some fun. If you don't want to have fun, all you've got to do is let us know. We've got no problem - we'll go on our way."
Venue staff then addressed the crowd, some fans reported that the lights were turned on and they were told to leave the venue, but the band returned about an hour later to the stage at 11.30 and continued with their set finishing just before 1am, however most of the fans had left the Arena.

The Venue and promoters MCD have issued the following statement to their fans to apologise to the fans but added that "No artist should be subjected to missiles and unknown substances being thrown at them."
The fan video below shows clips throughout the show.

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Afghan Women and the Return of the Taliban

By Aryn Baker Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010

The Taliban pounded on the door just before midnight, demanding that Aisha, 18, be punished for running away from her husband's house. Her in-laws treated her like a slave, Aisha pleaded. They beat her. If she hadn't run away, she would have died. Her judge, a local Taliban commander, was unmoved. Aisha's brother-in-law held her down while her husband pulled out a knife. First he sliced off her ears. Then he started on her nose.

This didn't happen 10 years ago, when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. It happened last year. Now hidden in a secret women's shelter in Kabul, Aisha listens obsessively to the news. Talk that the Afghan government is considering some kind of political accommodation with the Taliban frightens her. "They are the people that did this to me," she says, touching her damaged face. "How can we reconcile with them?"

In June, Afghan President Hamid Karzai established a peace council tasked with exploring negotiations with the Taliban. A month later, Tom Malinowski from Human Rights Watch met Karzai. During their conversation, Karzai mused on the cost of the conflict in human lives and wondered aloud if he had any right to talk about human rights when so many were dying. "He essentially asked me," says Malinowski, "What is more important, protecting the right of a girl to go to school or saving her life?" How Karzai and his international allies answer that question will have far-reaching consequences, not only for Afghanistan's women, but the country as a whole.

As the war in Afghanistan enters its ninth year, the need for an exit strategy weighs on the minds of U.S. policymakers. Such an outcome, it is assumed, would involve reconciliation with the Taliban. But Afghan women fear that in the quest for a quick peace, their progress may be sidelined. "Women's rights must not be the sacrifice by which peace is achieved," says parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi.

Yet that may be where negotiations are heading. The Taliban will be advocating a version of an Afghan state in line with their own conservative views, particularly on the issue of women's rights. Already there is a growing acceptance that some concessions to the Taliban are inevitable if there is to be genuine reconciliation. "You have to be realistic," says a diplomat in Kabul. "We are not going to be sending troops and spending money forever. There will have to be a compromise, and sacrifices will have to be made."

For Afghanistan's women, an early withdrawal of international forces could be disastrous. An Afghan refugee who grew up in Canada, Mozhdah Jamalzadah recently returned home to launch an Oprah-style talk show in which she has been able to subtly introduce questions of women's rights without provoking the ire of religious conservatives. On a recent episode, a male guest told a joke about a foreign human-rights team in Afghanistan. In the cities, the team noticed that women walked six paces behind their husbands. But in rural Helmand, where the Taliban is strongest, they saw a woman six steps ahead. The foreigners rushed to congratulate the husband on his enlightenment — only to be told that he stuck his wife in front because they were walking through a minefield. As the audience roared with laughter, Jamalzadah reflected that it may take about 10 to 15 years before Afghan women can truly walk alongside men. But once they do, she believes, all Afghans will benefit. "When we talk about women's rights," Jamalzadah says, "we are talking about things that are important to men as well — men who want to see Afghanistan move forward. If you sacrifice women to make peace, you are also sacrificing the men who support them and abandoning the country to the fundamentalists that caused all the problems in the first place."

Source : www.time.com

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WOMAN IN BLUE

Source : artwork.barewalls.com

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