Ends and odds, 3/8/07

(I apologize for what happened to this when it hit the Web. Something took out spacing between words. I think I have it fixed now. If it's not fixed on your machine, please let me know and I will try to fix it at the earliest possible opportunity.)

Some finalists for the Pulitzer Prize have been leaked, and for some reason my name is not on the list. Again. Am I that bad? Or is it that I'm too cheap to pay entry fees? Maybe next year when the jury reads an editorial I absolutely have to write based on the next item.

O-O-O

Accordingto People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Al Gore is not really an environmentalist, because he eats meat. PETA says going to a vegetarian or a vegan diet would do more to curb global warming than just about anything else we can do. Okay, I have a question. If I give up beef and turkey and chicken and the little fish I eat and replace it with lots of broccoli and pinto beans, where's the net gain?

(If that paragraph doesn't win me my Pulitzer, I'll have to give up).

O-O-O

It just doesn't pay to report the news sometimes. We haven't written much about gasoline prices lately, and they've moderated. This morning, The Herald-Dispatch had a Page1 item about how gasoline prices should start rising soon, and what do I see on my way back into the office from lunch at home? I see prices went up today from about $2.469 to $2.649. As near as I can figure it, someone needed the cash, and it was easy to just switch a couple of figures.

O-O-O

Two guys in Ashland are paying a heavy price for breaking into a house and tying up the occupant.

O-O-O

Maybe there is something good about working in a smaller news market. According to this story, newpapers of under 50,000 circulation (that's us) are holding their markets better than the big guys.The big papers pay higher salaries, but in today's world, national and international news has become a commodity that people can get almost anywhere. But for local-local news, they rely on the hometown, small-town paper.