Actress Mischa Barton Charged with 4 Misdemeanors

The actress Mischa Barton was charged with 4 misdemeanors on Tuesday that are due to a drinking and driving arrest that happened last year. She was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, driving while having 0.8 percent or higher blood alcohol level, driving without a valid license, and possession of 28.5 grams or less of marijuana.

Barton was arrested on Dec 27, 2007 in West Hollywood after sheriff’s deputies saw her car taking up two lanes of traffic and not signaling for a turn. She has played acting roles on the TV show, “The O.C.” and was in the movie, “The Sixth Sense.”

Bobby Brown Serves Community Service

The singer Bobby Brown will not have any criminal charges pressed against him after police found a small amount of cocaine in his possession. A Brockton District Court clerk found no probable cause to issue a criminal complaint, but did recommend that he volunteer to mentor young people. Brown agreed to serve a year of community service.

On Dec 1, 2007, police were called to investigate a disturbance at a Brockton hotel. They found Bobby Brown sitting in a SUV of a parking lot and found cocaine in his possession.

Rapper Ja Rule Posts Co-Defendant’s Bail

State Supreme Court Justice Micki Scherer stated in an indictment arraignment that she is troubled that the rapper Ja Rule posted thousands of dollars in bonds for two co-defendants in a gun possession case and she wants them to make their own bail. Ja Rule, Dennis Cherry, and Mohamed Gamal were all indicted on gun possession charges and they all pleaded not guilty.

Ja Rule’s bail is $150,000 bond or cash, Cherry’s bail is $150,000 bond or $75,000 cash, and Gamal’s bail is $20,000 bond or $10,000 cash. Gamal is Ja Rule’s driver and the owner of a limo service. Dennis Cherry is Ja Rule’s road manager. All of the bonds are secured by Ja Rule’s $3.5 million house in Saddle River, N.J. Dennis Cherry and Gamal will now have to pay their own bails.

On July 22, 2007, Ja Rule, Cherry, and Gamal were stopped by police in Manhattan for speeding. The police did a computer check of their luxury car and found that it had no insurance and a suspended registration. Even though Gamal was driving the car, he didn’t own it. When officers approached the car they noticed a strong smell of marijuana coming from it. Nobody in the car was charged with possession of marijuana. Police found a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic gun in the rear driver’s side door.

German Police Dogs Being Forced to Wear Shoes

Police dogs in Düsseldorf, Germany are being forced to wear fiber shoes while on patrol and the dogs are currently being trained to walk in the shoes. They are being forced to wear the shoes due to the high rate of paw injuries on duty and the dogs are often stepping on broken glass while on patrol. The pieces of glass often get stuck in their paws.

The dogs will start to wear the shoes on patrol during the spring but only during times that demand special foot protection. The shoes come in small, medium, and large sizes and were ordered in blue to match the officer uniforms.

Model Naomi Campbell Hospitalized

The model Naomi Campbell has been hospitalized in Sao Paulo, Brazil for an infectious disease. She is being treated by one of Brazil’s top specialists. She went to Brazil earlier this month for the Carnival in Salvador and was hospitalized this past Sunday.

McDonald’s Tries New Feng Shui Design

In California, a McDonald’s restaurant has gotten rid of the plastic furniture and red and yellow design to go for a Feng Shui style with leather seats, earth tone colors, bamboo plants, and water trickling down glass panels. The change is supposed to help their customers achieve happiness and fortune. Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese practice of arranging things and numbers to promote health, harmony, and prosperity.

The design is suppose to create a soothing setting and encourage customers to return. The new design has doors positioned in a way to block out bad spirits and keep good spirits inside. There are eight rows of red tiles near the food counter that symbolize fortune because the number eight is considered auspicious. There are metal sculptures of a crane and Koi fish on one wall that represents fertility and prosperity.

Cuba Announces New Leader

Cuba’s parliament has named 76 year old Raul Castro, Fidel Castro’s brother, as president. Officials overlooked younger candidates to give a 77 year old man name Jose Ramon Machado the number 2 spot. This officially marks the end of Fidel’s 49 year rule.

Raul Castro says that he plans to consult with Fidel on all major decisions of the state. Raul plans to implement economic reforms that could improve the lives of many Cubans. He has plans of a revaluation of the Cuban peso, which citizens use to pay for government services, such as utilities, public transportation, and the amount charged for food rations.

Cuba’s parliament chose a new 31 member ruling body that is called the Council of State to lead the country. The president of the council serves as the head of the state and government.

Japan’s Oldest Person Dies at Age 113

Japan’s oldest person was a woman named Tsuneyo Toyonaga who died on Friday. She died days after she was transferred from her nursing home to a close hospital because she had lost her appetite and wouldn’t eat. She had been in a nursing home for the past 12 years. She was born on May 21, 1984 and had 5 children and 10 grandchildren.

Another woman named Kaku Yamanaka is now Japan’s oldest person. She was born on Dec11, 1984 and lives in a nursing home in Aichi, central Japan.

The number of people in Japan that live more than 100 years old has nearly quadrupled in the past 10 years and the number is still increasing. Japan has one of the world’s longest average life spans. This fact is largely due to many people in Japan having a diet that is rich in fish and rice. Japanese women have an average life expectancy of 85.81 years and the men have an average of 79 years.

China Banning Foreign Cartoons

China is putting a ban on all foreign cartoons that air between 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. to protect their domestic cartoon industry. The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) says that no foreign cartoons or programs that introduce foreign cartoons can be shown during those hours on all domestic cartoon channels and children channels starting on May 1^st. Only domestic cartoons that are approved by SARFT can be aired. Cartoons that are co-produced by both domestic and foreign producers have to get approval to be aired.

In August of 2006, a ban was introduced that kept foreign cartoons from airing between 5 pm. and 8 p.m. After the ban, domestic cartoon programming for China increased by 38 percent. The ban is supposed to help China’s struggling animation studios space to compete and help their domestic cartoon industry.

Jennifer Lopez Gives Birth to Twins

Early on Friday morning, singer Jennifer Lopez gave birth to both a baby boy and a baby girl. The babies were born soon after midnight on New York’s Long Island. The baby girl was born first at 5 pounds and 7 ounces and the boy was born second at 6 pounds.

Pauly Shore Countersues Wes Craven

The actor Pauly Shore is countersuing his neighbor Wes Craven because he says that a landslide on his Hollywood Hills property was caused by Craven not maintaining his vegetation and landscaping on the hillside of his property. He is also claiming that Craven did not eradicate rodents that were burrowing in the hill and made improvements on his property that changed the geology, topography, and drainage.

The lawsuit started last year when Craven sued Shore claiming that he upgraded his home with a pool, spa, landscaping, and other improvements that caused water to seep down a slope and cause damage to his property. Both lawsuits are seeking unspecified amounts for damages and a judgment to determine who will be at responsible.

Singer Pink and Husband Separate

The singer Pink and her husband Carey Hart, who is a motocross racer, have decided to separate after being married for two years. The slit was a mutual decision and the two plans to remain friends.

Pink, whose real name is Alecia Moore, met Hart at the 2001 X Games in Las Vegas and proposed to him four years later at a race in Mammoth Lakes, CA. They got married on Jan 7, 2006 in Costa Rica.

Fidel Castro Resigns as Cuba’s President

Fidel Castro has resigned as Cuba’s president and has decided not to accept a new term as president. This will allow Fidel’s brother, Raul, to implement reforms that he wanted to implement since he took over as acting president when Fidel had gotten sick in 2006.

The National Assembly is going to meet to pick the governing Council of Sate, which includes who will be the next president. It is most likely that Raul, Fidel’s brother, will be the next president of Cuba. Fidel had ruled Cuba for almost 50 years before he resigned.

Lend and Borrow Money Online

There are now “peer-to-peer” lending websites that allow people to borrow money at competitive rates from lenders online. There is the site prosper.com, which allows the market to decide who gets funded. The site lendingclub.com is for borrowers with a FICO score above 640 and has a debt-to-income ratio below 30 percent. The site virginmoney.com manages loans between friends and family members. The site zopa.com works with credit union members.

The consequences of defaulting on a peer-to-peer loan are the same as a loan from a bank. Defaulting on a loan can have a negative effect on the borrower’s credit history.

G-Unit Rapper Tony Yayo Sentenced to Community Service

The G-Unit records rapper Tony Yayo was sentenced on Thursday to do 10 days of community service after pleading guilty to harassment of a 14 year old boy. He admitted in a Manhattan Criminal Court that on March 20, 2007, he got out of a sport utility vehicle and glared at the boy in a way that was meant to threaten physical violence. He was originally accused of slapping the boy but a friend of Yayo stated that he was the one who slapped the boy and Yayo pulled him away.

Yayo will have to do his community service at the Book Bank Foundation, which is an organization that encourages literacy. The friend that actually slapped the boy, Lowell Fletcher, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child and received a nine month jail sentence.

Aretha Franklin Insulted by Beyonce’s Grammy Intro

Aretha Franklin, who is known as the queen of soul felt insulted by Beyonce’s into to Tina Turner’s Grammy Awards Performance. In the intro, Beyonce referred to Tina Turner as “the queen.” Franklin felt insulted by the comment and stated, “I am not sure of whose toes I may have stepped on or whose ego I may have bruised between the Grammy writers and Beyonce. However I dismissed it as a cheap shot for controversy.” Later, on the night of the Grammys Beyonce referred to Turner as her “ultimate icon.”

Mississippi Restaurants Banning Fat People

The Mississippi legislature is seriously considering a bill that would ban restaurants from serving food to very overweight people. The law would revoke the license of any restaurant that continues to serve the people. The state currently has a 30 percent obesity rate and they think that they could reduce that by not serving people that are very overweight.

Rapper Juvenile Arrested

The rapper Juvenile was arrested on Tuesday after police officers pulled him over for driving with an expired tag and found marijuana in his car. He was driving from Atlanta to New Orleans when he was pulled over and arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession. He was released from jail later the same day.

Lil Wayne Indicted on Drug Charges

The rapper Lil Wayne has been indicted by a jury on felony drug and weapon charges. He was charged with one count each of possession of dangerous drugs, misconduct involving weapons, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Friday. He suppose to go back to court on March 7^th for a status hearing and his world tour is suppose to continue as scheduled.

Study Says Some People Having AIDS Aren’t Infectious

It is found in a recent study that AIDS patients that have been treated with the latest antiretroviral drugs can no longer infect other people through sexual contact. The drugs work so well that even though the patients aren’t cured, they make it able that only a small amount of the virus is circulating through the body. Researchers say that this fact prevents a HIV-positive person from transferring the virus through sexual intercourse.

The researchers also say that AIDS patients who took the drugs for at least six months can have unprotected sex with HIV-negative people without infecting them. Many activists and doctors don’t agree with doing this because it might have HIV-positive people having sex without informing their partners about their disease. If a HIV-positive patient missed a dose of their medicine, then they could be at risk of infecting their partners.

China Targeting the Internet to Stop Juvenile Crime

China is targeting illegal Web sites, computer markets, and Internet cafes to attack online games that are considered too violent and unhealthy to try to stop juvenile crime. The crackdown is being called “Operation for Tomorrow” and is also aimed at Web sites that offer unregistered playing platforms or services that can be downloaded. They hope that this plan will improve the environment, prevent, and reduce juvenile crime and illegal activities.

China already monitors the Internet for anti-government speech and uncensored news reports. The new plan mainly targets school dropouts, runaways, children of inmates, and children that have been left behind by parents that migrated to different areas for work. Unlicensed Internet cafes would be closed down and there would be tighter supervision over legal cafes. The China government is blaming Internet cafes for promoting juvenile crime and school truancy. Online pornography will also be attacked in the crackdown.

The crackdown is meant to increase government supervision and control the services of groups of people that they feel are vulnerable and easily impressionable. They also plan to increase the supervision over domestic and foreign charity groups and other non-government organizations.

New Dinosaur Fossils Found in China

Scientists have found new dinosaur fossils in China. The fossils are small, sparrow sized, toothless, and have carved toes. Despite their small size, they strongly resemble pterodactyls. They supposedly spent most of their time living in trees. Pterodactyls are widely known for being giant flying reptiles and most of their fossils have been found around costal areas.

The new fossil has been named Nemicolopterus cryptic, meaning hidden flying forest dweller. It was found in the western part of China’s Liaoning province, which is a region that had forests 120 million years ago. The fossil had attachments for muscles so that it could grasp limbs. It didn’t have any teeth, unlike most pterodactyls, and probably ate insects.

Rapper The Game Sentenced to do Jail Time

The rapper The Game was sentenced to serve two months in jail after he pleaded no contest to a felony weapons charge from an incident that happened last year. He was charged with the possession of a firearm in a school zone after he threatened to shoot someone during a basketball game. He was also ordered to perform 150 hours of community service and spend three years on probation.

U.S. Seeks Death Penalty for 9-11 Terrorist Attack Suspects

The Pentagon plans to charge six men detained at Guantanamo Bay for the Sept 11^th terrorist attacks on America. They are seeking the death penalty for the men. One of the men, named Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is supposedly the mastermind behind the attack, where hijacked planes were flown into buildings in New York and Washington. Prosecutors have been working for years to build the case against the suspects.

The trial will be held in a specially made court at Guantanamo that will allow lawyers, journalists, and some other people attend. The men would be tried in the military tribunal system that was set up by the Bush administration after the start of the war on terror. The system has been criticized for its rules on legal representation for suspects, hearings behind closed doors, and allegations of inmate abuse at Guantanamo.

Yahoo Declines Microsoft’s Offer

Yahoo has rejected Microsoft Corp.’s $44.6 billion dollar offer thinking that they can get a better offer from the company or find another way to pay its shareholders. Yahoo has said that they could possibly negotiate if Microsoft comes up with a better offer. If they don’t, then Yahoo will have to try to rebound financially on its own.

Some analysts think that Microsoft will raise its offer to $35 to $40 per share to make the negotiation. Microsoft was willing to pay at least $40 per share for Yahoo a year ago but Yahoo wasn’t interested in the offer because it was confident in its own strategy and plans. A higher bid could possibly hurt Microsoft’s stock price, because recently it has been falling. Microsoft’s market value has decreased by over $40 billion, which is 14 percent, since the bid was announced. The Yahoo takeover could be more trouble than it’s worth for Microsoft. Analysts say that Yahoo will have no choice but to take the offer if Microsoft raises its bid.

If Microsoft doesn’t want to pay more money then they can take their original bid directly to Yahoo’s shareholders. Microsoft has been seriously considering this by meeting with some of Yahoo’s major shareholders to get support for the offer. Yahoo could also make Microsoft not want them by issuing out more company shares so that it would make the company too expensive for Microsoft to want to buy.

Even though Yahoo has been suffering for the past two years, it still has one of the largest Internet audiences and is a very valuable franchise. Microsoft wants to use those qualities to compete against Google Inc., which currently has the lead in online search and advertising. Yahoo has been considering an advertising partnership with Google as an option to earn profits and stay independent. Yahoo is also looking for other companies that might make a larger bid than Microsoft, but none has come forward yet.

Yahoo is hoping that their stock value will not go below $20 per share if Microsoft decides not to make any more bids. If that happens then there could be a large number of shareholder lawsuits.

Bank Deposits Able To Be Made From Home

CheckFree Corp, an online banking service, is introducing technology called Remote Deposit Capture where people can scan their checks through their home computer and deposit them electronically. This means that people have another choice when it comes to depositing their checks without going to a bank branch. The service will start to be available this week for people who do their banking services online as long as their banks offer the service.

This technology has been around for several years but has mostly been used by businesses. It is already in use in the top 150 banks. It is easy to use and banks can customize it for their clients.

To use this service you would need a scanner, a computer, and an Internet connection. You would go to your home banking site and enter the amount of the check. You would scan both sides of the check, do a quick review of what you scanned, and then submit the scanned image. Banks can add their own fraud protection to make sue that bad checks aren’t cashed. The processing times for the checks would be as normal as cashing any other check.

CheckFree Corp, an online banking service, is introducing technology called Remote Deposit Capture where people can scan their checks through their home computer and deposit them electronically. This means that people have another choice when it comes to depositing their checks without going to a bank branch. The service will start to be available this week for people who do their banking services online as long as their banks offer the service.

This technology has been around for several years but has mostly been used by businesses. It is already in use in the top 150 banks. It is easy to use and banks can customize it for their clients.

To use this service you would need a scanner, a computer, and an Internet connection. You would go to your home banking site and enter the amount of the check. You would scan both sides of the check, do a quick review of what you scanned, and then submit the scanned image. Banks can add their own fraud protection to make sue that bad checks aren’t cashed. The processing times for the checks would be as normal as cashing any other check.

Jennifer Lopez is Having Twins

Jennifer Lopez’s father, David Lopez, stated in Telefutura’s “Escandalo TV” program that his daughter is having twins.

Heath Ledger Died of Overdose

It is found that the actor Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication, and other prescription drugs, says a New York City medical examiner. The cause of death was acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine. The medical examiner’s office only named the name of generic drugs, so it is unclear if Ledger took generic or brand-name drugs.

Police found six types of prescription drugs in his apartment, including sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medicine. It isn’t released how much of each drug was found in his blood or if one drug played a greater role than others in causing his death. None of the drugs were taken excessively but the combination of having all the different drugs in his body at the same time proved deadly.

On January 22^nd Heath Ledger was found by a masseuse in the bed of his rented SoHo apartment. When she entered his bedroom to set up for the massage, she found him unresponsive. She then called his friend Mary-Kate Olsen three times over the next 9 minutes before calling 911. Ledger had been dead for a while when he was found.

Shaquille O’Neal Preparing to be Traded

Shaquille O’Neal is preparing to be traded by the Miami Heat. The Phoenix Suns are ready to trade two players from their team to have him. The Suns are already planning on having him take a physical before they make the deal and are willing to trade Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to get Shaq. Both teams are very serious about the deal.

Shaq currently has two full seasons left on his current $100 million five-year contract. This season he averaged a low 14.2 points. He has also suffered a bruised hip on Dec 22^nd and missed four out of five past weeks while recovering. The Miami Heat has lost 19 of their last 20 games and has the NBA’s worst record at 9-37. The Phoenix Suns have the best record in the Western Conference at 34-14.

Amy Winehouse Questioned Over Drug Video

The singer Amy Winehouse was questioned by police about a video that supposedly showed her smoking crack cocaine. There weren’t any charges filed and the investigation is still continuing.

Last month, the Sun tabloid ran still images from a video that showed her inhaling fumes from a small pipe. The video was supposedly taped during a party at her London home. She has recently been admitted into a rehabilitation center in London.

Pimp C Autopsy Results

The autopsy of rapper Pimp C revealed that he died due to a deadly combination of sleep apnea and Promethazine/Codeine, which is cough syrup. His death has been ruled as an accident. He was found dead on December 4^th of 2007 in his bed at the Mondrian Hotel in Hollywood, California.

GM Introduces New Hybrid Pickups

General Motors will introduce a new hybrid full-size pickup and a concept hybrid truck this week at the Chicago Auto Show. The company says that the 2009 GMC Sierra hybrid gives 25 percent more in fuel economy and you don’t have to lose anything in performance. The Sierra is also the next large GM vehicle to get the new two-mode hybrid system. The GMC Denali XT concept gives 50 percent more in fuel economy than most other small pickups. The SUV hybrids are suppose to be on the market early this year and the Sierra is suppose to be on the market at the end of 2008.

Two-mode hybrid cars run without the gas engine at low speeds and at higher speeds the electric motor gives more power. A two-mode system is good for towing.

Hybrid vehicles initially cost more but drivers can driver longer distances before the car needs to be refueled so you can save money in the long run. Small businesses can take advantage of the government tax breaks for hybrids.

Star Jones New Show Gets Canceled

Star Jones’ show on TruTV has been canceled. The last show aired this past Friday. Tru Tv says that the cancellation is due to rebranding and programming refocus of the network. The show was a legal-focused talk show that was on air for only 6 months. She will still stay with the network as a contributor to the channel’s trial coverage.

Actress Garcelle Beauvias Gives Birth to Twins

An Ocala jury has found actor Wesley Snipes not guilty of charges of tax fraud, aiding and abetting in a tax scheme, and failing to file a tax refund for three of the years between 1999 and 2004. He was charged guilty for not filing income tax returns for three of the years between 1999 and 2004.

NASA Launching Music Into Space

On Monday, NASA will broadcast the Beatles song “Across the Universe” across the galaxy to the North Star, Polaris. This would be the first time that a song has ever been beamed by the space agency into deep outer space. It would celebrate the 40th anniversary of the song, the 45^th anniversary of NASA’s Deep Space Network, and the 50^th anniversary of NASA.

The song would be traveling at the speed of light and would take 431 years to reach Polaris. Polaris is 2.5 quadrillion miles away from Earth. The song would be transmitted digitally at 7 p.m. EST on Monday from a giant antenna in Madrid, Spain. For a person to hear the song on Polaris, they would need an antenna and a receiver for it to be converted back to music.

The original idea came from a man named Martin Lewis, a Los Angeles Beatles historian. He asked for permission from McCartney, Yoko Ono, and two companies that own the rights to the Beatles’ music. The Apple Company was happy to approve the idea.