More on the Midget-Mao Regulations at Salesforce

As a follow up to the post, Midget-Mao Regulations to Be Imposed on Returning Salesforce Employees, Scott O adds in the comments:

A friend who works at Salesforce says that it’s way worse than this post indicates.

Employees must wear a mask at all times, including when sitting at a desk or alone in a conference room. Plexiglass shields surround desks. Contact tracing is done continuously in the office. If someone who tests positive came within a certain distance of you, you may be told to quarantine. Only one person at a time may ride an elevator. Employees must schedule elevator rides in advance.

Salesforce would like everyone to get vaccinated but will not require it “at this time”.

Keep in mind, this is in addition to employees being tested for the virus twice a week.

 -RW

WARNING: New World Health Organization Group to Plan Health and the Economy of the Entire World

I have a very important story up at EPJ on a dangerous new group that has just been formed under the auspices of the World Health Organization.

You can find it here.

 -RW

Melinda Gates Warned Bill About Jeffrey Epstein

In the wake of the news of the divorce between Bill and Melinda Gates, Daily Beast is running a long piece on the relationship between Bill and Jeffrey Epstein, and Melinda being upset about it.

Most interesting it appears that the story is being sourced by people in Melinda's camp. So you have to wonder if she wants this out and why. Is this simply a hell hath no fury moment or is there another reason for the leak?

Here are key excerpts:

Melinda Gates met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein alongside her husband Bill in New York City and soon after said she was furious at the relationship between the two men, according to people familiar with the situation.

The previously unreported meeting occurred at Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion in September 2013, on the same day the couple accepted the Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award at the Pierre Hotel and were photographed alongside then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

The meeting would prove a turning point for Gates’ relationship with Epstein, the people familiar with the matter say, as Melinda told friends after the encounter how uncomfortable she was in the company of the wealthy sex offender and how she wanted nothing to do with him.

Gates’ friendship with Epstein—who for years was accused of molesting scores of underage girls—still haunts Melinda, according to friends of the couple who spoke to The Daily Beast this week in light of the pair’s divorce announcement, which had been weeks in the making...

The ties between Gates and Epstein ran much deeper than the tech mogul first admitted. As The New York Times reported, starting in 2011, Gates met with Epstein on numerous occasions. This was three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage girl in Florida; by then, accusations that Epstein exploited girls and young women were widely reported in the press...

As The Times reported, two people close to Gates acted as intermediaries between the two: Boris Nikolic, a biotech investor and former adviser to Gates who was mysteriously named a backup executor in Epstein’s last will and testament; and Melanie Walker, who worked at the Gates foundation and served as a science adviser to Epstein. A person close to Walker told The Daily Beast she did not attend nor help set up any meetings between Gates and Epstein. Nikolic did not return multiple requests for comment...

Indeed, the Times reported Gates visited Epstein multiple times from 2011 to 2013, and that Epstein had tried pitching a new charitable fund to JPMorgan honchos and to the Gates foundation. In 2013, Gates also took a ride on Epstein’s private jet (christened by tabloids the Lolita Express), from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Palm Beach, Florida, according to flight records reviewed by the Times. CNBC also reported that Gates rendezvoused with Epstein in New York in 2013...

This person wasn’t surprised that Melinda Gates was put off by Epstein, saying “a lot of people were uncomfortable with Epstein, completely independent of his” sexual misconduct. “He just was an obnoxious guy. He almost made a point of having bad manners, not paying attention at dinner… I could see how anybody, even without suspicions, would not want to be around him.”

Still, Epstein had a “superhuman” ability as a social climber, the one-time colleague of the financier said, adding that the photos displayed in Epstein’s mansion of former President Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II were “really obnoxious, especially if you’re somebody like Melinda and hanging around with heads of state anyway. Then to have someone do this endless name-dropping…

“When he got up from the table at dinner, he wouldn’t just get up, he’d tell you he had a call with a president of some country.”

Epstein also reportedly had a habit of bragging that he was an unofficial adviser to Bill Gates—a claim the Microsoft founder’s representatives denied. One Times report indicates Epstein claimed to be a tax consultant for the tech magnate.

After his initial meeting with the financier, the billionaire philanthropist told Gates Foundation staff in an email: “His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me.” Asked about this message, Gates’ spokeswoman said he “was referring only to the unique decor” at Epstein's Manhattan mansion and “Epstein’s habit of spontaneously bringing acquaintances in to meet Mr. Gates.”

The full story is here. 

 -RW

Why is Warren Buffett Battling the Extreme Left?

Warren Buffett

 At the EPJ post, Why Are So Many Corporate Executives Acting Woke?, where I reviewed the Stephen R. Soukup book, The Dictatorship of Woke Capital: How Political Correctness Captured Big Business, I noted:

[Soukup] especially singles out Larry Fink of BlackRock. 

BlackRock has $8.7 trillion under management. That is power. Fink being a true believer of wokeism, has enormous sway over corporate heads with his position as CEO of BlackRock which holds massive stock positions in most of the major publicly traded companies in the United States.

Soukup states, "Larry Fink is a religious fanatic; a believer in the pure fundamental practice of his faith... [That is]Fink aligned himself with and placed himself at the forefront of the 'ESG' movement, an investment trend focused on Environmental, Social and Governance matters in assessing a company's long-term value. He placed himself in the position to be crowned king not just of the financial services world but also of 'woke capital,' the top down, anti-democratic means by which some of the most powerful and best-known men and women in American business are endeavoring to change capitalism, the securities markets in the fundamental relationship between the state and its citizens – – and save the world." Fink is playing a major role in all this.

So it is interesting to see Warren Buffett, who leans pretty heavily left, to be battling Fink on wokism.

The Wall Street Journal reports:  

The world’s largest asset manager is in disagreement with the world’s most famous investor.

BlackRock Inc. voted for two shareholder proposals that would require Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to publish disclosures on how it manages climate risk and diversity efforts across its many businesses. Berkshire’s two shareholder-led proposals didn’t pass, but around a quarter of votes cast were in favor of the two proposals, Berkshire said during its annual meeting Saturday...

In addition to its votes on shareholder-led proposals, BlackRock also voted against the re-election of two Berkshire directors. It said Berkshire didn’t interact enough with institutional shareholders, didn’t have an adequate plan for addressing climate risks and lacked a lead independent board director...

“Overwhelmingly the people that bought Berkshire with their own money voted against those propositions,” Mr. Buffett said Saturday. “Most of the votes for it came from people who’ve never put a dime of their own money into Berkshire.”He said making all the companies across Berkshire’s sprawling empire fill out a questionnaire because some outside organizations asked for it was “asinine.” It also went against the concept of autonomy the company was built on. 

So is Buffett finally displaying some of his father Howard's old-school conservative genes?

I doubt it. Buffett is just one of the few top CEOs shrewd enough to recognize that wokeness is a power grab that he is not going to let get to step one at Berkshire. Buffett is not a billionaire by accident. 

  -RW

Chinese Interpreter Denies Splitting Up Bill and Melinda Gates

Zhe 'Shelly' Wang

Here is some no-hard evidence speculation on the Gates breakup that it involves a Chinese translator.

The deep dive speculation on Twitter is this:

What are the odds the translator is a Chinese agent? If she has family in China, especially parents, I'd say close to 100%.

The Chinese interpreter who has done work for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at the center of the speculation has come forward to deny wild online rumors that she was responsible for the split between Bill and Melinda Gates, reports The Daily Mail.

Zhe 'Shelly' Wang, 36, spoke out in a post on Weibo, the Chinese social media site, on Wednesday, slamming the 'unfounded rumors' that she had conducted an affair with Bill Gates.

'I originally thought [the rumor] would be self-defeating from groundless sources, but I didn't expect it to get more crazy,' she wrote in Mandarin. 'Thank you for your concern over the past 24 hours through private messages, and friends who helped me dispel rumors.'

Wang, who lives in Seattle and is unmarried, is an accomplished professional translator who has done work for the Yale School of Management and Harvard Business School, as well as the Gates Foundation.

Wang wrote on Weibo: 

I originally thought it would be self-defeating from groundless sources, but I didn't expect it to get more crazy. How many books can you read during the May 1st holiday? Why waste time on unfounded rumors. Thank you for your concern over the past 24 hours through private messages, and friends who helped me dispel rumors. I hope that this incident will not ruin the good mood of the holiday. Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Li Donglei for his article. No melon, don't cue.

 Wang grew up in the Chinese port city of Guangzhou, and later immigrated to the United States.

On LinkedIn, she's received multiple endorsements for Chinese, Spanish, French, German and Japanese translation ability.

 -RW

(ht Micah Armantrout)

Couple Buys California Dream Home, But Seller Refuses to Move Out Because of Eviction Moratorium

When Tracie and Myles Albert purchased a beautiful four-bedroom house in Riverside, California they never realized that at the end of escrow the seller would suddenly refuse to give up the keys and leave, reports FOX 11.  

"It’s just draining, emotionally and financially," says Tracie.  On January 31, 2020, the couple purchased the home. More than a year later, they still haven’t been able get inside their property. Chris Taylor is the Real Estate Agent who sold the house to the Alberts from a man who wanted to sell immediately. 

"He needed $560,000 from the sale of his house in two weeks and he called me on a Sunday, so in traditional real estate there's no way of doing that unless the buyer’s a cash buyer," says Taylor. 

Since the house was free and clear and worth more than $560,000 the Alberts felt it was a great deal. 

"It took us scrambling to get everything we had, our life savings put together and a hard money loan on top of it to make that happen," Myles stated.

During escrow they discovered there was a $30,000 tax lien on the house which slowed things down, but in the end, all parties signed on the dotted line and the sale was completed.

"We own the house, outright. That's our house and it's all in a contract, written, legal, done. He's been paid the money in his account. How could we have no rights to go into our home," asked Myles.

Here is the full story:

 

-RW

President of Azerbaijan Slaps Down BBC Reporter Over Treatment of Julian Assange

Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, knows how to deal with establishment media who act as puppets for the global elitists.

This is impressive:

BBC getting beautifully bitten here for Britain's treatment of #Assange.
What right do we have to lecture others is a question the UK never likes to hear.#Azerbaijan #FreeAssange https://t.co/lXJ1DpCcor

— Ross Slater (@rossslateruk) May 5, 2021

Why don't we see American politicians confront the establishment media this way?

 -RW

Midget-Mao Regulations to Be Imposed on Returning Salesforce Employees

While making his announcement, the presumably vaccinated Marc Benioff displayed how he wasn't taking any chances and wore a mask outside, going beyond CDC guidance, on the chance that perhaps plants, weeds or cement were shedding the virus.  

Arguably the most lefty Greater Bay Area CEO in a sea of stiff lefty competition, Marc Benioff, founder and CEO of Salesforce, has announced the terms under which employees can return to work in Salesforces offices.

Benioff tweeted out Wednesday that employees can return to their offices on May 17.

But here is the deal. According to KRON-TV, returning employees must be vaccinated against COVID 19 and also be tested for the virus twice a week.

Salesforce said the office will open to ‘Volunteer Vaccinated Cohorts’ who will be in groups of 100 or fewer people, working on designated floors in certain offices.

Fortunately, rather than go through the nutty COVID-19 corporate protocol for a virus that is unlikely to be a serious threat to anyone working at Salesforce, employees will be allowed to work from home through the end of 2021 if they choose to.

 -RW

Is Melinda Divorcing Bill Gates Over Jeffrey Epstein?

Interesting theories from Alex.

 

 -RW

Jordan Peterson Tells Tucker: Truth in speech is of divine significance

Jordon Peterson putting truth on an almighty altar is a very dangerous action.

To be sure, truth should be a very high ideal but it is not the ultimate.

For example, I do not believe there is any obligation to tell the state the truth or anyone else that may be threatening me in a physical manner.

For the person that holds truth as a high ideal (but not the ultimates ideal), a falsehood can be an extremely powerful weapon against dangerous evil lurking.

 -RW

An Apology to Drug Dealers

Libertarians are against drug laws but my apologies to you.

There is obviously a lot of confusion going on in libertarian ranks.

At the post, I Support Equity, Intersectional Hiring..., where I discuss being in favor of government hiring not being based on ability but rather extraneous factors such as gender, race, mental sexual identity disorder. etc., a number of commenters objected.

I really want the most incompetent people hired at the DEA, preferably real wacko intersectional nutjobs that will raise hell internally for all kinds of mad reasons. It will keep these incompetents busy and not hot on your trail.

For some reason, many commenters apparently want the DEA to hire competents who, in addition, won't cause wacky internal turmoil, and are more likely to think about clever ways to catch you and stay on the trail.

Notice, I am not talking about leadership setting broad policy but rank and file government hires. 

I want them to be as incompetent as possible.

I have no idea why a libertarian would want efficient government.

 -RW

Just One Black Man’s Thoughts On Walter Block as A Racist

Walter Block

By Victor J. Ward

Professor Walter Block emailed me and asked me to write a few words in support of him. Apparently, some black students believe that Professor Block is a racist. Professor Block wanted me to describe my interactions with him because, of course, my thoughts on the matter may have some sway because I am black.

I have doubts whether or not my opinion will have any impact. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

My thoughts about how Professor Block has treated me, a black man:

Professor Block has treated and continues to treat me as a Gentleman and a Scholar.

I have seen Professor Block interact with many different people, some in person, more on video. I have personally interacted with Professor Block. He treated me the way that I have seen him treat all people:

 With respect.

In my case, he also treated me as a Scholar.

He asked me to co-author an article that he would submit to a refereed journal. When I said that I was unworthy, he said, “You are a gifted writer. Don’t hand me that bs about you being inept.”

Do you know how many books Professor Block has written? Do you know how many articles Professor Block has written?

So, when a prolific author tells you that you are a gifted writer, that means something. (I still don’t believe it, but I appreciated and appreciate what he had to say.)

Professor Block also asked me to represent him in his lawsuit against the New York Times. Again, I had to turn him down. Professor Block needed a hard-core Attorney who knew Defamation law. That was not me. He needed the best — or as close to the best as he could get. I did not want him to settle on me because he could do much better.

Nevertheless, he trusted me with something that was near and dear to him.

Again, he has treated me as a Gentleman and a Scholar.

Professor Block loves liberty and freedom. He will talk about those concepts to anyone at any time.

But, Professor Block has a blind spot. I am reminded of a biblical passage where Jesus says: Be innocent as doves, yet shrewd as snakes.

Professor Block loves liberty. That is his dove-like nature. Sometimes, however, he gets on a roll talking about Libertarianism, and he forgets that there are people looking to take him out. He forgets that there are people who want to twist his words and make him look and sound like a racist or a crackpot or a racist crackpot.

Professor Block is not shrewd as a snake because he believes his passion for liberty and the beauty of the intellectual argument for liberty will overcome the evil in the heart of man.

I wish that were true. Sadly, it is not.

If one were to assume that Professor Block held racist views, what difference would that make? How does an Economics Professor’s view on race impact the way that said Economics Professor teaches Economics? Economics is a race-neutral, value-free endeavor to find truth through the lens of the Economic. It is nothing more, nothing less.

Professor Block loves to teach students. I feel sorry for these black students. They have an opportunity to get an education in Economics from a Professor who is a thought leader. They have an opportunity to learn from a Professor who would absolutely love to take an eager student under his wing and teach him or her the beauty of Austrian Economics.

If I were a younger man, and I had the opportunity to learn under Professor Block, I would do so in a heartbeat.

The black students who focus on Professor Block’s view on race are wrong on the facts — Professor Block is not a racist.

If these black students succeed in hurting Professor Block’s ability to teach, the true losers will be these black students and the students of all colors who won’t have the opportunity to learn from such a wise and passionate man.

Just one black man’s thoughts.

Victor J. Ward  first came across libertarianism by reading Murray Rothbard's Ronald Reagan: An Autopsy and Walter Block's Defending the Undefendable. He holds a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Trump Launches End Run Around Social Media Giants

Former President Donald Trump has launched a new webpage that allows him to broadcast his messages without needing the approval of Jack Dorsey or Mark Zuckerberg. 

 "From the Desk of Donald J. Trump" is essentially his own blog/Twitter-type feed.

Also interesting is that at least for the time being, links to his posts can be rebroadcast on Twitter and Facebook.

It is a very basic workaround but brilliant for someone with his size following.

This will teach other banned operators how to do it.

 -RW

ROSSINI: "I see things differently after the last year."

As a follow up to my post, A Big Problem For the Small Government is Always Better Crowd, Chris Rossini emails:

Hey Bob,

I've always been one who supported smaller government rather larger, primarily because of the possibility of escape should tyrants take over the larger government. You always want the option to escape to another county, another state, another country.

But this last year proved to me that the tyranny can emanate from the smaller. When you look at Covid, it was the governors who were the problem, rather than President Trump (putting aside his massive mistakes, of course). It was the Governors who took away liberty.

And, as you pointed out, it's the local officials in Florida who are the problem, and Governor DeSantis is the one to be praised for overruling them.

So I have changed my position from smaller being (automatically) better to analyze the position - case-by-case between the smaller and the larger. If the larger is for liberty, then may it always overrule the smaller tyrant.

Thank you!

Chris

 -RW

Profits Explode at Pfizer Due to COVID-19 Vaccine

Thank you, fearmongering  Donald Trump Warp Speed government paid-for vaccines.

Pfizer Inc. reports that its revenue in the first quarter of 2021 amounted to $14.6 billion, soaring 45% compared to the same period a year earlier. That's an increase of roughly $4.6 billion.

Reported earnings per share (EPS) climbed 44% year on year to $0.86 and adjusted EPS stood at $0.93. Reported net income was $4.9 billion, while adjusted net income came in at $5.3 billion. That's additional profits of roughly $1.7 billion. Pfizer also noted it raised its revenues and EPS guidance for 2021.

"I am extremely proud of the way we have begun 2021, delivering strong financial results in the first quarter. Even excluding the growth provided from BNT162b2 [COVID-19 vaccine], our revenues grew 8% operationally, which aligns with our stated goal of delivering at least a 6% compound annual growth rate through 2025," CEO Albert Bourla stated.

Meanwhile, NBC just said the Biden Administration is spending $3 billion on vaccine hesitancy “education” and to combat vaccine “disinformation.”

And just a reminder, former FDA commissioner and hyper-promoter of COVID vaccines, Scott Gottlieb, sits on the board of Pfizer and promotes the COVID vaccination of children.

 -RW

A Big Problem For the Small Government is Always Better Crowd

Ron DeSantis 

 In Florida, city and county mayors across the state are a bunch of mini-Maos.

There have been all kinds local "emergency" COVID orders in place across the state that have just ended. No thanks to the mayors.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed an executive order invalidating all the remaining local emergency orders.

In Miami-Dade County, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said a lifting of local COVID rules would ignore the dangers that remain to public safety.

Broward County Mayor Steve Geller said he was “extremely unhappy” with the governor’s decision.

“It feels a little bit like the governor is spiking the ball at the 10-yard line. Obviously the virus is still with us. And local governments ought to be able to require indoor mask usage when appropriate," said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber.

It goes on.

But the heroic Desantis overruled all of them.

So here we have a situation where smaller, more local, government officials have been more authoritarian compared to the leader of the much larger governmental body the state itself.

I have never been a supporter of the smaller is always better crowd. I am always anti-state, big states and local governments.

If governments do exist, I am always going to be the supporter of the government that is least repressive in the case of Florida, it is the government of Gov. Desantis not the mayors.

What do the smaller governments are always better people have to say?

I always want the least oppressive people in charge when there is only a government option to begin with.

 -RW

Grab Some Popcorn for This One

Here is a white teacher who definitely has the hate bases covered.

During a traffic stop, she tells the cop that he is a murderer. 

 The cop is Hispanic so she also tells him that he "just wants to be white."

NEW: "You're always gonna be a Mexican, you'll never be white, you know that?"
A Latino LASD deputy sent me his bodycam video of a woman claiming to be a teacher launching into a racist tirade against him when he pulled her over in San Dimas. She repeatedly calls him a murderer. pic.twitter.com/Cc8jSVenCQ

— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 3, 2021

UPDATE

She apparently teaches at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California. 

 -RW