Lindsay Lohan And LA's Nameless, Faceless Black and Tan Dots

See that picture to the left? Don't you wonder what those little black and tan dots are?

I'll give you a hint: It's part of a map of Los Angeles.

Before you get all excited, let me be clear: those dots aren't locations of celebrity homes. And don't worry, they also aren't places where Lindsay Lohan's been arrested for DUI.

In fact, despite another booking for DUI and cocaine possession, I have a hard time picturing Lindsay spending any time in the neighborhoods highlighted in this section of the map. She doesn't really strike me as a South-Central type of ride-or-die chick, you know? She probably hasn't even seen "Baby Boy" before. And, Lindsay has money for bail and the umpteenth shot at rehab.

Indeed, Lindsay's train-wreck existence has felt like the biggest story on the internet and TV, even bigger than the Bulgarian medics who injected 438 kids in Libya with HIV being set free.

And now it's 12:13 at night and I'm watching Rob Schneider, dressed up and pretending to be Lindsay Lohan on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Schneider is pretty funny, and normally, I'd probably laugh. But I can't. I'm sitting here with tears running down my cheeks. And no, Lindsay's plight hasn't affected me that much.

No, I've been simultaneously reading the Los Angeles Times' Homicide Report. You see, those black and tan dots in the picture, well those are people. 460 mostly black and Latino people. Mostly males, mostly late teens, early twenties in age...you know, around Lindsay Lohan's age. And they've been murdered in Los Angeles this year.

The Report, in existence since January, is written in blog form by a journalist named Jill Leovy. This isn't the first time I've read it, but it's been awhile since I clicked on the link and read the heartbreaking stories about the circumstances and lives of those who have been murdered. Truly, I have nothing but respect for Jill who, in one article, answers the question about why the homicide report exists:

"Selective news coverage is a practical necessity for most news organizations operating in a county where nearly 1,100 people die from homicide yearly. The Los Angeles Times, for example, is limited by the number of pages it prints, and in a recent year, found room for stories on fewer than 10% of L.A. County homicides, according to an analysis by a Times researcher. Such selectivity ensures that the people and places most affected by homicides are least likely to be seen, while the safest people are inundated with information about crimes unlikely to ever touch their lives."

Don't be shy. Go ahead and click on that link and read more about why Jill does the Report. Rereading it just now reminded of me of why I wish the best for Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears and all the rest of them...but I honestly don't give a damn about them. They aren't living somewhere where they can get shot sitting on their front porch. They aren't parents who have to grieve for their eighteen year old son murdered in front of their house. Oh, and these same parents have a daughter who's nine and survived being shot in a drive-by four years ago.

Yeah, you start reading that Homicide Report, and suddenly, those black and tan dots have a name, and have a face. You start reading it and you're accountable for what you know about the countless young people gunned down in this city... and they aren't even drunk and in possession of cocaine.

So forgive me for not thinking Lindsay's situation deserves all the press it's received. Forgive me for hoping she gets the book thrown at her and gets locked up for awhile, as she deserves.

After all, in prison, at least she'd still be alive.