An interesting article about CEO's Pays.

I read this headline title from Reuters and Yahoo news with Interest

Even CEOs think CEOs are overpaid

This Piece of news have a really revealing fact:- While most CEO felt that they are really doing a good job(50%) most of the employee or people working for them (38%) felt otherwise according to a survey by BNET.
The thing about paying some top executive top pay is that sometimes they will miss or even become clueless about situations and happenings that are crucial to the company survival.
Thus a "When things are good,Pay yourself more; When thing get bad, Pay yourself even more." philosophy might arise that will undermine the well being of the whole company.
In the same context, Other top executive(64%) also felt that CEO's are overcompensated
However from further investigation/searching :)
I read The original Bnet Blog, Financial Times I found that this finding have been around for quite a while I think since October.
And finally this is the one that I think makes the most sense is from NYTimes.com
The main point is an independent pay commission committee.
This from Wikipedia "Executive compensation"
An extract of the part that interest me

In Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs, Harvard Business School professor Rakesh Khurana documents the problem of excessive CEO compensation, showing that the return on investment from these pay packages is very poor compared to other outlays of corporate resources.

other link for the book, 1 ,2
The next link is also from Bnet there seem to be a CEO succession crisis.

Today Is World Aids Day

Today Is World Aids Day so this news come as a surprise From CNN.
Not to be confused with this :-

Condom use is an integral part of the CNN Approach. This is:
Condom use, for those who engage in risky behavior,
Needles, use clean ones,
Negotiating skills; negotiating safer sex with a partner and empowering women to make smart choices.
Quote from Wikipedia

A really good way to prevent aids is to use condoms that at least is a barrier that prevents the virus from spreading to another especially those with multiple partners.
Here is the CDC website and the page for the case of condom Effectiveness.
From mid Page:-

Laboratory studies have demonstrated that latex condoms provide an essentially impermeable barrier to particles the size of STD pathogens

.
Here is the Wikipedia Entry For the Aids definition and prevention.
Quote From Wikipedia:-

Promoting condom use, however, has often proved controversial and difficult. Many religious groups, most noticeably the Roman Catholic Church, have opposed the use of condoms on religious grounds, and have sometimes seen condom promotion as an affront to the promotion of marriage, monogamy and sexual morality. Defenders of the Catholic Church's role in AIDS and general STD prevention state that, while they may be against the use of contraception, they are strong advocates of abstinence outside marriage.This attitude is also found among some health care providers and policy makers in sub-Saharan African nations, where HIV and AIDS prevalence is extremely high.They also believe that the distribution and promotion of condoms is tantamount to promoting sex amongst the youth and sending the wrong message to uninfected individuals. However, no evidence has been produced that promotion of condom use increases sexual promiscuity, and abstinence-only programs have been unsuccessful in the United States both in changing sexual behavior and in reducing HIV transmission.Evaluations of several abstinence-only programs in the US showed a negative impact on the willingness of youths to use contraceptives, due to the emphasis on contraceptives' failure rates.

The current used in USA is:-

The United States government and health organizations both endorse the ABC Approach to lower the risk of acquiring AIDS during sex:

Abstinence or delay of sexual activity, especially for youth,
Being faithful, especially for those in committed relationships,
Condom use, for those who engage in risky behavior.

The point I'm making is this

Is it possible for the Groups that was mentioned to distribute latex Contraceptive? Because This will spread the message of safe sex even if abstinence fails.

And also remember that there are people who come into contact the disease unknowingly, Example partners in the dark about spouse infidelity, Mother-to-child in utero transmission (MTCT)or accidental exposure to infectious bodily fluid.

The Golden Compass And an Atheist Youtube post

The Movie In Question "The Golden Compass"
From Yahoo Movie Link
The main complains from the against crowd is that They Felt that the film have paint a certain religion in a poor light.But seeing their comments and contrast this Youtube Post

And he (Salladsdressing) makes a very valid point too.
With this one which have me laughing the idea is put forward.By the way is Chuck Missler a comedian in the states.

Interesting site that I come across

I come across some interesting sites on the net today.
From http://www.cracked.com
This article remind me how Washington died due to blood letting.
Basically, It list a few strange and funny medical cures that were implemented in the past by doctors.
The diet pills ones are still prevalent in these time and day.
It is now known that mercury can cause Autism in Children via vaccine preservatives.

The one about lobotomy is also quite interesting because basically the Doctor destroy the frontal lobe which play a part

in impulse control, judgment, language production, working memory, motor function, sexual behavior, socialization, and spontaneity.-from wikipedia

Basically he just successfully undo years of evolution on a fellow human being.
While you are there,look out for the
5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen
and
The 5 Creepiest Urban Legends (That Happen to be True) post too.They are terrific :)

Honour Killings in London.

Read this article today From Timesonline

It simply chill my heart to see that this is happening in this time and period.Various news networks Covers this story: BBC,MCNBC,The Daily Mailand The Australian
Some With the actual footage of the victim giving advance warning pending her murder on her boyfriend phone.
I saw this video from Technorati.

The 2 footage below from ScareTV.



What is worse is the fact that Given that there are signs of a possible crime why was it not fully follow up by the police?


Granted that the victim is under protection by the police couldn't more be done?

Rest In peace Banaz Mahmod.

Burma Airline Tycoon son Partying in Singapore

Read this article in Tomorrow.sg That refer to a online daily magazine post in the thefirstpost.co.uk that show the son of the WEALTHIEST tycoon in Burma, Tay Za, partying in Singapore.
The main point of the article is that :

.....his 19-year-old son Htet Tay Za is living it up in Singapore and has sent an arrogant email to friends - accompanied by photos of him partying with pretty girls - saying: "US bans us. We're still fucking cool in Singapore. ...."

I especially like at82 quote:

Recommended by at82: "I hope the Burmeses in S'pore would give him a party of his life if they ever get to meet him. ;-)"

Nice story from Australia

Here is a News from Sydney Morning Herald.
This news is quite uplifting because it show a 14 year old boy Julian Shaw who save a 54 year old man Mark O'Dwyer who faint and fall onto a track at Lisarow train station.
The thing that caught my attention ,beside the Rock band participation,is that Julian acted based on what He learned on a Discovery channel show MythBuster which is shown in Singapore too. It's a nice show that dispels commonly held myth using scientific approach and methods.
It's nice to know that entertainment information when presented scientifically can help broaden people perceptions and lead to such a heroic event.
More reason to watch Discovery channel now.

Rich Internet Applications (RIA)

Actually I'm studying JavaFX now and it's potential usage in my Mini Game developments.Basically JavaFX ,from my point of view is divided to to part the part i'm interested in is the Scripting part as that will have the effect of creating stuff like animation that are script based(like flash) and still be platform independent. With the development Flashlite by Adobe the demands for handphone device RIA is quite obvious to see.

Hate Crimes in the world

These headlines caught my attention today
Firstly
"US anti-gay church to pay $10.9m" to Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder family is quite interesting to read today.

quote:"....have denounced homosexuality for years, initially targeting the funerals of Aids victims but later extending their pickets to the funerals of soldiers, who they say are being punished by God. ...." and children
"...with signs reading "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "You're going to hell"."
Wow this is really extreme. And the worst part is this
"Members of the church, however, reportedly greeted the verdict with tight-lipped smiles." The report indicates that they are going to appeal against the judgment. Somehow it disgusting to see that these people using children for propaganda purpose and doesn't show any remorse doing a bad deed.

Secondly
This is a clip that show a "Mr Davis and friends" bullying a 67 year old Uncle and didn't pay him for his service. Just how cheap can they get?

They are British tourists who claims they did not "bully" anyone in Singapore. However, when watching this clip, it felt like bullying and I think they weigh more then 240kg when all three are on the trishaw and even a young man could not go fast with that kind of heavy load. Hence Mr Davis original Youtube title:"Slowest Cab in the world" reflect badly on Himself.

The last is this one on "US diplomats refuse Iraq postings ".

"Hundreds of US diplomats have protested against a government move to force them to accept postings in war-torn Iraq."

Who could blame them especially peacekeeping efforts in Iraq go down the toilet after the torture photos in Abu Ghraib surfaced around 2004.

Picture from Wikimedia:




These are examples of what constitutes Hate Crimes and the consequences no matter how perpetrator tries to glorify the cause, the truth always come through.

News of Chemical Passing off as Medicine

I read about news on fake drugs that have been distributed in the world.
Video link from New York times
The headline is
"At least 82 Chinese companies at a Milan trade show, none of them certified, said they made pharmaceutical ingredients." Link to the news here

The part about the diet pills ring a alarm in my mind about a similar drugs that occur before in Singapore around 2000 to 2003. That drug is Slim 10 that created a storm that close down TV Media the TV shopping channel . And led to this law suit

Quotes from getforme.com
"...The product from China was pulled out of the market on April 15 by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) because it contains fenfluramine, which is banned here.
Slim 10 suspected to have caused television artiste Andrea De Cruz's hepatitis and liver failure. In Singapore, at least 13 people who have been on the drug have come down with hepatitis, hyperthyroidism, hypertension and heart palpitations."

"...Chinese manufacturer Yuzhitang Health Products; importer Health Biz and its president and director Simon Liu, 32; and distributor TV Media in the first civil action over Slim 10. ....."

This kind of makes me wonder since this type of incident have happened in the past What could we have done to ensure our health.It's scary to know that there are fake drugs and food floating around in the market.