Juxtaposition

Have you read any interesting news today? A couple of items that I read were noteworthy. They might not be noteworthy as standalone items, but bundled together......I'll let you decide:

First, over at MaineToday.com I saw this:

Business leaders and community activists Tuesday launched a three-year fundraising campaign to help needy Mainers pay their fuel bills and stay warm during the winter.

The "Keep ME Warm" campaign, co-chaired by TD Banknorth President David Ott and United Way President Meg Baxter, seeks to raise enough money to provide more than 500,000 gallons of fuel to families with limited incomes.

Then I went on to read this:

Citizens Energy Corp. will provide discounts on 8 million gallons of heating oil to low-income Mainers under an expansion of its heating-assistance program made possible by a huge increase in cut-rate oil from Venezuela.

But the ties to Venezuela are creating a political controversy in the wake of a recent speech to the United Nations in which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush "the devil."

Then I read this:

Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs is set to throw gigantic bags of money at its bankers, traders and stockbrokers this year - lavishing them with more than $16.5 billion in bonus loot, the most ever doled out by a Wall Street firm. Santa will bring Goldman's most senior executives - who are called "partners" and who bring in much of the firm's revenue - between $10 million and $20 million each, according to one executive recruiter.

And then then article goes on to say:

Between regular salary and bonuses, the average pay of Goldman employees will be a mind-numbing $622,000 this year - and that includes all the low-end workers.

Sigh. See Ya. I'm going to go make a donation to Keep ME Warm.