Random

• Kudos to the East Valley Tribune which won a Pulitzer Prize for local news coverage. Ryan Gabrielson and Paul Giblin did a five-part series on how local law enforcement suffered because Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was focusing so much energy on the capture of illegal immigrants. The real story, though, is that they did it while the paper itself was struggling to keep the doors open. The Trib has now cut back from a daily to two editions a week. They do run a fairly robust website. ~ link

• Harnessing the strength of their international brand the Walt Disney Company has jumped into the English teaching business in China. I have this terrible image of millions of Chinese graduates with Mickey Mouse voices. ~ link

• Ebooks are changing the way we read -- and ultimately write. This is probably one of the most realistic assessments of the trend that I've read. ~ link

• Shaheen Jafargholi is the 12-year-old who is giving Susan Boyle a run for the gold. ~ link

• The fifth estate -- "In America today, there are almost as many people making their living as bloggers as there are lawyers. Already more Americans are making their primary income from posting their opinions than Americans working as computer programmers, firefighters or even bartenders..." ~ E. Kinney Zalesne in the WSJ