Wild and Wonderful

www.boingboing.net had this photo.
There is an endless supply of wonder and weirdness on this little planet of ours.

Who needs aliens?

Inside Outside

Inside Out
Whose side are you on, man?
Why these bars?
Why this tightness in my chest?
Why won’t you let me inside?
Why do the boots marching outside
Always bruise and churn my insides?
Which side am I on?
Outside or In?

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Illustration and poem by Jay Larsen

Ballpoint pen on paper snatched from a pizza place in the 80s

Drawn by a younger me full of teenaged angst,

yet even then there was a realization that my biggest limitations were inside me not outside

Shaman

Floating
Free but still masked
What kind of bird
Meets the Buddha in the road
When no one is watching?
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Credits: Illustration and Poem by Jay Larsen
Why don't we do it in the road?

CEO Pay Explained By Market Pressures

It's Not Hard to Be a Job-Slashing, Pension-Grabbing CEO -- If You're a Sociopath
By Thom Hartmann, Smirking ChimpPosted on July 28, 2009, Printed on July 29, 2009 http://www.alternet.org/story/141615/
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that "Executives and other highly compensated employees now receive more than one-third of all pay in the US... Highly paid employees received nearly $2.1 trillion of the $6.4 trillion in total US pay in 2007, the latest figures available."
One of the questions often asked when the subject of CEO pay comes up is, "What could a person such as William McGuire or Lee Raymond (the former CEOs of UnitedHealth and ExxonMobil, respectively) possibly do to justify a $1.7 billion paycheck or a $400 million retirement bonus?"
It's an interesting question. If there is a "free market" of labor for CEOs, then you'd think there would be a lot of competition for the jobs. And a lot of people competing for the positions would drive down the pay. All UnitedHealth's stockholders would have to do to avoid paying more than $1 billion to McGuire is find somebody to do the same CEO job for half a billion. And all they'd have to do to save even more is find somebody to do the job for a mere $100 million. Or maybe even somebody who'd work the necessary sixty-hour weeks for only $1 million.
So why is executive pay so high?
I've examined this with both my psychotherapist hat on and my amateur economist hat on, and only one rational answer presents itself: CEOs in America make as much money as they do because there really is a shortage of people with their skill set. And it's such a serious shortage that some companies have to pay as much as $1 million a day to have somebody successfully do the job.
But what part of being a CEO could be so difficult -- so impossible for mere mortals -- that it would mean that there are only a few hundred individuals in the United States capable of performing it?
In my humble opinion, it's the sociopath part.
CEOs of community-based businesses are typically responsive to their communities and decent people. But the CEOs of most of the world's largest corporations daily make decisions that destroy the lives of many other human beings.
Only about 1 to 3 percent of us are sociopaths -- people who don't have normal human feelings and can easily go to sleep at night after having done horrific things. And of that 1 percent of sociopaths, there's probably only a fraction of a percent with a college education. And of that tiny fraction, there's an even tinier fraction that understands how business works, particularly within any specific industry.
Thus there is such a shortage of people who can run modern monopolistic, destructive corporations that stockholders have to pay millions to get them to work. And being sociopaths, they gladly take the money without any thought to its social consequences.
Today's modern transnational corporate CEOs -- who live in a private-jet-and-limousine world entirely apart from the rest of us -- are remnants from the times of kings, queens, and lords. They reflect the dysfunctional cultural (and Calvinist/Darwinian) belief that wealth is proof of goodness, and that that goodness then justifies taking more of the wealth.
Democracy in the workplace is known as a union. The most democratic workplaces are the least exploitative, because labor has a power to balance capital and management. And looking around the world, we can clearly see that those cultures that most embrace the largest number of their people in an egalitarian and democratic way (in and out of the workplace) are the ones that have the highest quality of life. Those that are the most despotic, from the workplace to the government, are those with the poorest quality of life.
Over time, balance and democratic oversight will always produce the best results. An "unregulated" marketplace is like an "unregulated" football game -- chaos. And chaos is a state perfectly exploited by sociopaths, be they serial killers, warlords, or CEOs.
By changing the rules of the game of business so that sociopathic business behavior is no longer rewarded (and, indeed, is punished -- as Teddy Roosevelt famously did as the "trustbuster" and FDR did when he threatened to send "war profiteers" to jail), we can create a less dysfunctional and more egalitarian society. And that's an important first step back from the thresholds to environmental and economic disaster we're now facing.
This article is largely excerpted from Thom Hartmann's new book "Threshold: The Crisis of Western Culture."
Thom Hartmann is an author and nationally syndicated daily talk show host. His newest book is 'We The People: A Call To Take Back America.'

Shatner Does Palin (07/27/09)

Video Recaps Full Episodes Webisodes

I'm not a doctor, I'm a blogger, but I'd have to say, "She's Retired, Jim."

You've got to see this video

J Band

The J band is the range of radio frequencies from 10 GHz to 20 GHz in the electromagnetic spectrum. This is equal to wave lengths between 3 cm and 1.5 cm. The J band is in the SHF range of the radio spectrum.
The I band intersects with the X band and K band of the older classification system. The Ku band is within the J band.
Uses
The J band is used for satellite communications and radar.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_band

Who knew?

Chained Hostage

Chained and manacled, your friend slumps against one of the alabaster pillars.
He is guarded by a large goblinoid creature with a great curving sword hanging over your companion's head.
The lamia laughs, a cold heartless laugh, as she sees the look on your face.
"Now", she says. "I will tell you exactly what you are going to do for me."
"Disobey, and you know exactly what I will do to him."
You can't believe you ever trusted her.
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Credits: Illustration by Jay Larsen
Hoping to play some more D&D soon.

Holy Treasures, Vending Machine Man!

Holy treasures can be had for only 50 cents, from a company named Impulse Amusements.
Those of us who suffer from amusement impulses should be reassured that at least the machine comes with a warning label.

I can't quite read the warning, but it may be the standard safety warning:

"Holy treasures contain small pieces which may cause choking. Do not give to small children. Stained glass may contain lead which is known to the State of California to cause birth defects in atheists."

Then again it might just be a safety prayer... Put your hands together for safety.

If only Indiana Jones had known about this he wouldn't have had to rush all over the world hitch hiking on Nazi submarines to get Holy Treasures. All he needed was 50 cents for Impulse Amusements.

Quick Excuses

Been busy writing specs all day.

It's what I get paid to do, and I'm glad I'm still getting paid.

So many people aren't right now.

So I'll just drop a few images I saw today and a question or two.

What is the intersection between destruction and art?

Why would you manufacture a giant sign that said "DAMAGED"?
Why would someone blog about it?

Don't Punch Me Buzz!

Apparently the conspiracy theorists where half right: The moon landings were faked in a studio--a Studio On The MOON!!!
Check it out!
It is a laugh riot. And since it is a joke Buzz Aldrin won't punch you.


"Once the soundstages were built, it was found that accurately simulating the 1/6th gravity environment of the moon would be impossible. Many methods were tried, including trampolines, wires, and filming underwater, but nothing was found to have the realism required to pull the hoax off effectively. After numerous feasibility studies were carried out, it was decided to relocate the entire soundstage and all associated production facilities to the lunar surface to take advantage of the 1/6th gravity environment."

Most Viewed Solar Eclipse Ever

But we don't get to see it here in North America.

It will be visible in the most populous part of the world, Asia.

"And That's The Way It Is..."

Walter Cronkite died the other day.
A lot of famous people have died recently, but this one really made me stop and pause.
I grew up watching Cronkite on the CBS Evening News.
He was a big part of my growing interest in news and current events. I might not be a news junky if it weren't for Walter Cronkite, his voice, his manner, his intellect and interest in people and events. All those space missions were always accompanied by Walter explaining the scope of the endeavor and the bravery and technical skill of the people involved.
I have been missing Walter on the news for a long time, but I liked knowing he was still out there. And I would catch him from time to time on PBS or Discovery.

But now he is gone. But I still feel the echoes of his voice in the silence his passing leaves behind.


Goodbye Walter.

Have Pillow Will Travel

Pillow Talk for Astronauts
Reentry for the Heartbroken

Plot an orbit that brings me back around

Plant these moon boots firmly on the ground

Amazing

I see that Goldman-Sachs posted a record profit for the quarter.
You have to admire those amazing leeches.

Tensor"s Floating Meeting Doodle

This is a Level 2 spell with a material component used to dispell boredom during conference calls.

Jay Larsen

Sent from my Windows Mobile phone

All Good Things...

Good Things:
My girls are coming home from California tomorrow!!
New water filters, and seeing all the gunk we have not been drinking.
Reading old comic books.
Listening to good music.
The way John Byrne draws faces with just a few simple strokes.
Trying a few comic portraits of my own (see above).
Not being born with one ear two inches lower than the other (I'm sure there is a story there...)
Bacon
Finding old friends again.
Did I mention my girls come home tomorrow?
Tomorrow...

Echo Lion

Hush my darling
Hush my darling
The lion's on the phone
--TMBG

Echo Helmet

Turn on the light
I can't hear myself think
Yossarian
The target is in sight
Crush it with absurdity
Bombs away, away, away,
Away with you, with me
Another day,
Away

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Credits: poetry, collage and credits by Jay Larsen

Well Enough of That, Back to Work

Had a nice Interdependence Day Holiday with the family.
The weather was great. BBQ, fireworks (on TV), fun and games.
I didn't even watch the news or turn on the computer for 3 days...
But now it is just another corporate Monday and it is back to work for me.
My girls are on the road this week, visiting family and friends in Northern California.

Stuck in the warehouse

Doing inventory all day.

Jay Larsen

Sent from my Windows Mobile phone