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Two worlds.......poles apart

Who says there isn't a widening gap between rich and poor.

Coincidentally, 2 pieces published today which highlight the contrast between rich and poor in the USA....

First from Mother Jones:

"The recession is far from over for millions of Americans, but prosperity has returned to the nation's boardrooms and corner offices. After two years of declines in the wake of the financial crisis, executive pay is skyrocketing. CEOs at the country's 200 largest companies earned an average of 20 percent more last year than in 2009, according to recent corporate filings. By comparison, average pay for workers in the private sector rose just 2.1 percent last year—nearly the smallest increase in decades.

While some CEOs, such as Apple's Steve Jobs, took symbolic $1 salaries last year, many kept drawing outsized checks. Below, we list 10 of 2010's most egregiously overcompensated executives. They're selected not just on the size of their pay packages, but how much more they were paid than their peers at similar companies, as well as the disparity between their personal bottom line and their companies'. These 10 vividly illustrate what veteran compensation consultant Bud Crystal views as a broad problem in many boardrooms: "You have almost no relationship between pay and performance when it comes to the CEO."

And at the other end of the world....from CommonDreams:

"Just back from a food distribution in our neighborhood. About 200 people were expected. Over 600 turned up. Black, white, young, old, thin, fat, surly, gracious, families, very alone. Despite the truckloads of food, we ran out; in the end, people stood in line mournfully eyeing the last canned dregs and dented cereal boxes, trying to decide if it was worth it. Maine is poor, but our county isn't. Yet there are 49 food pantries and soup kitchens here."

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