90 Miles From Tyranny

Thursday, July 1, 2021

Why The Double Standard?

Which One Benefits Big Pharma?

Charles Schwab's SF HQ is up for sale after move to Texas

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States and companies and residents began fleeing San Francisco, Charles Schwab had already decided to move its headquarters to Texas.

Now, two years later, the financial services company's 17-story office building up for sale, as first reported by the San Francisco Business Times.

Charles Schwab still leases the entire building at 211 Main St. in SoMa, an agreement that runs through April 2028. The building was purchased by Blackstone Group in 2017 for approximately $313 million. The asking price is said to be about $400 million, according to the Business Times, which obtained a brochure that said that pricing is 25% below market rate.

While Westlake, Texas, will house the company's new main office, "Schwab was founded in San Francisco and has maintained a longstanding commitment to the Bay Area, which will continue. Schwab continues to hire in the Bay Area and expects to retain a sizable corporate footprint in the city," a company spokesperson told SFGATE.

Even if this sale can’t be blamed on the changing nature of work due to the pandemic, it’s a pattern that’s becoming common in San Francisco. After file-hosting service Dropbox announced a shift to permanent remote work in October 2020, it sold its Mission Bay headquarters — a four-building complex at 1800 Owens St. — for $1.08 billion in April. Tech companies with large office footprints like Salesforce and Twitter are also offloading office space...

Welcome to the kingdom, the land of bought and sold

A world of real-life fantasy where truths are seldom told

Try hard to remember all that glitters is not gold

You can pay the piper, but you cannot buy his soul

CHORUS:

It's just a game, you're in it all the way

It's just a game, don't let yourself slip away

It's such a shame, I heard somebody say

It's just a game, and all I can do...is play

China Won't Be Bullied, 'Anyone Who Dares Try Will Have Their Heads Bashed Bloody', Xi Jinping Warns

On Thursday, Tiananmen Square in Beijing hosts a ceremonial meeting to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has cautioned that foreign forces attempting to bully the nation will "get their heads bashed", and hailed a "new world" created by the people of China.

"Anyone who dares try to do that will have their heads bashed bloody against the Great Wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people," he said.

"The people of China are not only good at destroying the old world, they have also created a new world," Xi Jinping said. "Only socialism can save China."

Xi Jinping added that China will learn from the experience of other countries, but will not tolerate the "arrogant teachings" of other nations. According to him, a new era has come, when world powers will no longer be able to impose unequal treaties on the PRC; the Chinese nation has risen to its feet and will not allow anyone else to control its fate.

The chairman also said that the country's authorities should turn the People's Liberation Army of China into one of the strongest armed forces in the world to protect national security. He highlighted the importance of modernising and protecting Chinese sovereignty.

The secretary general's speech was accompanied by thunderous applause from 70 thousand spectators at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

Xi's speech also came against the background of escalating tensions between China and the US due to a number of issues, including Taiwan and a probe into COVID-19's origins. Beijing had earlier slammed Washington's claims that China risks facing isolation if it does not agree to another probe into the origins of COVID-19, calling them "sheer blackmail and threat".

As for Taiwan, the Biden administration has beefed up its diplomatic and military support for the island nation from day one at the White House, starting by inviting its de facto ambassador to Biden’s inauguration. Beijing considers Taiwan to an integral part of China, and has repeatedly blasted the US for “meddling” in regional affairs....

American flag nowhere to be seen.

Active duty members of the Navy in San Diego were forced to take part in a mandatory ‘diversity hike’ during which they flew LGBT flags while American flags were nowhere to be seen.

“A woman whose husband is active duty Navy sent me this. His command held a “diversity hike” in honor of Pride Month. Attendance was mandatory. They hiked while waving a rainbow American flag,” tweeted Matt Walsh.

As Chris Menahan explains, the event was promoted by the Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 303, which celebrated “Pride Month” with a “Pride Hike” at Sunset Cliff last week.

The servicemembers were made to carry a version of the LGBT flag which incorporates the stars and stripes, although no actual American flag was flown.

A photo from the hike shows one of the men turning away from the camera, perhaps in protest at being forced to be involved.

“It appears as though in April male sailors in the same unit had to hold up these humiliating signs telling one another not to commit rape,” writes Menahan.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently appeared before a House Armed Services Committee where he faced accusations that the U.S. military was....