Posthuman Blues

Regarding the SETI Institute's Seth Shostak, I commented that while "social anthropologists might bicker with me, [. . .] I think radio-SETI fulfills some of the criteria for cult-hood."

Within a couple days, alert posthuman Carol Maltby brought my attention to an interesting article, Top Leaders See Fatter Paychecks, which includes the following paragraph:

"The organization that spent the greatest proportion of its income on its top two executives was the SETI Institute, in Mountain View, Cal., which spent 2.5 per cent of its fiscal 1998 income of $10.2-million -- or $257,944 -- on paying its top two executives. Coming in at No. 2 was the Heritage Foundation, which spent 2.4 per cent of its $45.6-million income -- or $1.1-million -- on its top two executives."

I, for one, find it fascinating that the very institution that issues endless condescending remarks about the allegedly lucrative "cottage industry" of UFO/alien "believers" has found a way to award its high-priests in such consummately cult-like fashion.