Blame BHO

Ennui led us to peruse the L.A. Times' obsessive homicide listings. We'd heard chatter that murder, at least, was down city-wide, though we weren't following that up; just hoping for something grim & vile. Nothing but banality, though.

However, the chatterers weren't kidding. The Times has been recording all homicides in Los Angeles County since 1 Jan. 2007. Our Times-defined neighborhood (population 115,070.3, per the 2000 Census) had 14 in 2007, & another 14 in 2008. 2009: Four. So far this yr.: Two. One domestic violence, one standard LAPD operating procedure: Black guy w/ a learning disability is shot by officers who saw him "reaching into his waistband."

Los Angeles police officials said officers shot Washington early Saturday morning after he reached into his waistband for what they believed was a weapon.

Washington died from a single gunshot wound to the head shortly after midnight.

Although no weapon was found, officers said they feared for their lives because Washington did not respond to their commands and appeared to be reaching for his waistband.

Or "appeared to be reaching for his waistband." While being of the African-American persuasion.