More from Al Martinez

He's posted two additional emails to LAT staff this afteroon, and as with last night's missive about being kicked off the paper under the guise of the buyout offer, he's not holding back. The first email notes that "you're a great staff and I suspect that you will endure without me, though a vacancy in the paper may be noticeable for a bit." Then, about an hour later there's this: "I forgot to add that in the true spirit of journalism's new sensitivities, management is shutting off my Times computer service tonight."

As could be expected, there's been a lot of reaction to his departure. "Hope some news source will continue to give Al a column to write," notes one LABO reader. "What a lousy way to treat someone who has served you faithfully for all these many years." Another reader says simply, "What jerks!" It's hard for outsiders to really know how Martinez was treated - other than to assume that management understood what a stink this would cause. Too bad he couldn't have taken the high road, as difficult as that would have been. Instead, he comes off as sounding, well, more than a tad petulant, like the stuff in the earlier email about "winning more awards and honors than would ever fit on my wall." Er, wouldn't it have been better to let others trumpet your virtues? Oh well.