My friend Joyce met Wayne "Juggler" Elise, who wrote a chapter of The Game and now runs a dating coaching company called Charisma Arts, at an upscale hotel bar in NYC a few months ago. They just talked and did not hook up.

Afterward, she described her impression of him like this. "You know there are guys who I sleep with, and afterwards, I'm like, 'Crap, what was I thinking?!' Then there are guys who I sleep with, and we wake up the next morning together, and we go out for a nice breakfast, and then we go our separate ways and maybe never see each other again. Wayne is the second type of guy. I like Wayne."

This is America though. The bad boy, Mystery, gets the TV show.

Oh, let's weep for the brats. They're SO maligned andd SO sick. What a crock,

Nobody makes anybody take that first drink, or pill, or smoke. These people are no different than the morons of the same ilk that populate most high schools and college campuses today.

You're right...it does begin at home. But even the best parenting can come in second place to the hundreds of media images glorifying this lifestyle. These "star" dolts should be put in mandatory rehab or in jail.

By the way...your comparison with Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe differ in one respect...those gals had talent, and these punks don't have one ounce of it.

I just want to say, that I don't think the coverage of the dipshit 4 wunderkinds has to do with them being women. The Rat Packers were followed and their antics were reported on heavily.

I also recall lots of Johnny Depp coverage when he was dating Wynona and trashing hotel rooms, then doing coke and heroin with Kate Moss. Now he's more normal, so less coverage, plus he's older and has kids. Hallie Berry and Billy Joel have wrapped their cars around trees too, Billy Joel was the butt of many jokes for weeks.

These girls are fucking up their lives, so it get covered because for every one of those fuck ups, there are 100 other young actresses who aren't plastered on the TV news or getting arrested and it is certainly not my fault when they put these women's antics on the nightly news. I don't buy gossip rags or People or watch Entertainment tonight and other shows like it so the only reason I know what these women do is because of the NEWS, not the National Enquirerer, so blame yourself reporters.

Yes, LL has a drug problem and possibly a drinking problem and she needs help, but she's also a dumbass. So is Paris, so is Nicole so is Britney. They are all pretty, marginally talented entitled spoiled shits who are not book smart, they are not street smart. They flit through life on their looks and their money and being someone's little perfect princess. Britney throwing fits on planes because first class seat isn't leather, her and Paris buying new dogs for fashion accessories. So they are talked about because their level of stupidity and entitlement is astounding.

Lindsey is not a child, she is just a young woman with very little responsibility and so fills her days with drugs, shopping and binge drinking. What all these women need are to read some actual books, stop going clubbing every weekend, move to a place other than LA and perhaps a drill sergent life coach to show them how adults are supposed to conduct themselves. I'm not going to say oh po' wittle lindsey when a week out of rehab she thinks a nightclub is the place to be. She chose to put herself in a situation full of temptations instead of just um, staying home?

Oh and these ladies call the tabloids for coverage, they go to the "hippest" places where they know they'll be photographed, they live off the media attention, it's fairly easy to avoid it if you stay away from all the hot spots.

About the matter of LiLo's great wealth and access to better healthcare than most of us: Let us remember that that same wealth also gave her access to the high-speed dangerous lifestyle that might kill her before this is all over.

Quite frankly I do not know who Lohan is, except that she is one of the female supermarket checkout tabloid rat pack.

I believe Lohan employs a public relations company to keep her doings and her face (and possible other body parts) in the news media.

Why is Couric not reporting on this?

If Lohan wasn't a celeb, what would happen to her? If someone like you or me got caught DUI with coke possession, we wouldn't be sitting here staring at our computers. As a recovering addict myself, I have done some pretty stupid things, and have paid the price for it. And my punishment was far more than a bad photo and a slap on the wrist.

What Lohan needs is a stint in a serious rehab...not some SoCal day spa. I pray that she gets it, and that it sticks. Some jail time wouldn't be bad for her either.

What makes me angry about all of this is two things: 1) why can't the media SHUT UP (that means you, Salon) about these bimbo idiots, and 2) why is it that celebs get away with murder (sometimes literally) and not have to pay the price?

I live in Japan a country where basically all entertainers are of the caliber of a Paris Hilton, LILO or BritSp. -- Zoshig

Ah, no. Like many nipponophiles you sound rather uncultured.

Japan's pop media is as bad as our pop media. Their pop culture icons for teen consumerism are like our "back street boys" and "American idol" and the vapid crap in our teen and fashion magazines and such. Their soap operas and TV is actually slightly better than ours. Their pop music is horrible, but so is ours.

however, if one knows where to look, Japan does have many brilliant entertainers and artists, who are in fact some of the best in the world. And that has been the case for centuries. Just as we do, if one knows where to look.

Japan's visual aesthetics have heavily influenced the fine arts for centuries, and continue to do so. The impressionist and expressionist movements which really shaped modern art were heavilly inspired by Japonism.

Kurosawa was of course one of the most admired and imitated directors of all times. "Beat" Takeshi Kitano is another director known for art films, and he's a popular comedian as well. There are plenty of others.

Japan of course started J-pop of which there is plenty of insipid examples, but there are also highly respected bands in that genre from Japan which have been globally influential. Japan has lots of good underground rock, techno, and hip-hop artists, and some uniquely Japanese fusions. While I find many Japanese jazz artists a bit bland, Japanese consumers are huge jazz fans and a very important for labels such as Blue Note.

Some of the most highly regarded fashion designers known for artistry above commercialism, people like Issey Miyake, come from Japan.

I could go on.

Just because you're clueless doesn't mean everyone is.