Odds and ends 11/8/07

Let's have a little fun here, assuming I read the numbers right.

Last quarter for which results were announced:

Exxon Mobil: $102.4 billion in revenues, and $9.4 billion in profits. That means for every dollar in revenue, 9.2 cents is profit.

Gannett (former owner of The Herald-Dispatch): $1.9 billion in revenues and $366 million in profits. If my math is correct, for every dollar in revenues, Gannett records 19.3 cents in profit.

Now, what does that say about the two companies? Yet we keep hearing about how great the oil business is and how lousy the newspaper business is.

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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov.-elect Steve Beshear said Wednesday that his lopsided victory was a clear signal that Kentuckians want to decide the fate of casino gambling. ...

Beshear supports amending Kentucky’s constitution to allow a limited number of casinos at racetracks and at off-track sites along the state’s borders. He estimates the extra gambling would generate about $500 million in additional state tax revenue each year for such priorities as health care and education. ...

Be careful what you ask for, guv. Please study the arms race West Virginia has entered before you decide whether it's worth it.

But by linking casino gambling to health care an education, it's probably a sure thing now.

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Something that was in the news a while back but you don't hear about now:

A year or so ago, the University of Wisconsin was going after high schools that copied the W on its football helmets. Even if the Ws were not identical to the Wisconsin W, the university's lawyers issued cease-and-desist letters. Some high schools caved.

When a high school in Wyoming County, W.Va., received one of those letters, Wyoming County native and West Virginia Attorney Darrel McGraw said he would defend the school in court. So far, I've not heard of any legal action.

I've also not heard of Wayne High School or Wahama High School receiving a cease-and-desist letter, even if they use a W similar to Wisconsin's.

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WALTON HILLS, Ohio (AP) — A man who named a street for his wife in a subdivision that he developed thanked voters for resisting homeowners who wanted to rename the street because it sounded low-class. ...

A majority of streets in this Cleveland suburb carry the names of developers and families who paved the way, and Brenda Lee Drive builds on that tradition. ...

Eleven of 12 property owners in the subdivision persuaded the Village Council to drop the name earlier this year in favor of Whitetail Run, which reflects the many deer that wander the area, council members said.

Brenda Lee Drive conjures up images of a trailer park, said Pat Hrabak, who lives in the subdivision, where houses are valued at more than $300,000.

“We’re tired of being laughed at,” Hrabak said. ...

I don't know if the snooty Clevelanders connect the name Brenda Lee with country music or with dual-named Appalachians. It's always fun to be looked down upon, isn't it?

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