Thursday Hotsheet at 3 a.m.

JM, Che on Mural, Sunset, 11.14.07

Joseph Mailander a guy in la • elsewhere • email

Books just don't matter much to your local fishwrap. If you ever needed more proof of this, take a look at how the LATimes convulsed when it discovered it had based a story about a death that occurred over a decade ago on fraudulent documents.

"In relying on documents that I now believe were fake, I failed to do my job," Philips said in a statement Wednesday. "I'm sorry."

In his statement, Duvoisin added: "We should not have let ourselves be fooled. That we were is as much my fault as Chuck's. I deeply regret that we let our readers down."

Compare that to how the reviewer of a completely fraudulent book about gangbanging blamed everyone else other than herself in the process of defending her review.

Who can blame readers who follow the story for wanting to understand how so many people were fooled? No one likes to be fooled. Least of all, I might argue, a critic. (I suspect we could conduct focus groups with real-life, bona-fide gang members and some of them would be fooled too.) That was my first reaction, somewhere in the gut like a fist. There were a few other feelings, including amusement--admit it, like falling into a story or being forced to stay home because of the weather, it’s a little bit thrilling that we still can be fooled....

Yes, she even wondered if it mattered.

Believe it when you read that the Grape Street Crips took a hit in the Daily News. The grand jury indictments come down on thirteen gang members of one of LA's most dangerous who are alleged to have been involved in the production of PCP.

As home purchases drop and bankruptcies climb, the buyer to foreclosure ratio is moving towards an eerie equilibrium, the paper also reports.

This really flew under the radar: State courts banned most home schooling last month. But they'll reconsider in appeal.