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Puzzling Juxtaposed Thoughts: (a) Pfizer’s Cash Revenue Last Year Was $81 Billion; Net Cash Flow: $32 Billion — But (b) It Wants $800 Back From Hourly Workers It Overpaid?

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So… the figures above come from its annual SEC filing, at page 26. To be fair, most workers apparently didn’t immediately realize they had been over-, or in some cases, under- paid — in December. The hack / ransomware that caused the snafu struck a payroll processing firm (not an affiliate) that Pfizer hires to send checks, and do the calculations of withholdings, etc. for the hourlies. The hourlies. The lowest earners at the vast pharma multinational. [Sure I think workers ought to be honest, as a rule — and return it voluntarily if they have it, still. But again, most spent it. It was Christmas, afterall.]

There is zero doubt that Pfizer may rightfully recover these sums from the payroll firm; and failing that, both of them carry insurance for this sort of thing. So — in the ending throes of a pandemic here, and with gas hitting $4.50 a gallon in some places. . . it seems very small-hearted of Dr. Albert Bourla (who made $23.7 million all by himself last year) to insist that the families making under $50,000 a year, in many cases… be required to repay the $800. Here’s the latest, from FiercePharma:

…In December, a ransomware attack struck Ultimate Kronos Group, a vendor that Pfizer uses to track work time and pay out hourly staffers, WWMT reported earlier this week. Employees were under- and overpaid as a result, according to a letter from the company obtained by the CBS/CW-affiliated news outlet.

Now, the drug behemoth is repaying those who were shortchanged—but it’s also asking overpaid staffers to return their surplus cash.

One anonymous employee told WWMT they hadn’t realized they were overpaid and had already spent the money Pfizer’s now requesting….

So, Dr. Bourla makes in about four minutes in the office — more than the $800 per family. Every four minutes. All day. He makes around $12,000 every hour of every day. Sheesh — he should just cover this error, on his watch, from his pocket if there is no other answer.

I might (as a dark-hearted lawyer) also observe that, as a strict matter of black-letter law, in most states, “unilateral mistakes“, at contract law (the mess-ups, on paying under even an at-will contract of employment, here) are said to fall upon the party in the best position to prevent the mistake. In this case, there is literally no input for the employees — on which vendor Pfizer ultimately chooses as its pay-master. Pfizer, as a multi-national sophisticate — ought to thank the hourly employees for their honest service, and… let it go.

I say so, very mindful that (in my considerable experience) this sort of trivial nit-pickery… leads hourlies to talk to unions (and the pettiness of upper management is often a chief complaint). Talk to the unions, about being represented — about taking… a vote, as we saw this afternoon — at Amazon (arresting Amazon employees who were handed food, by union reps, just inside the perimeter fence, among other things). Smile….

नमस्ते

“The Times, They Are A-Changin’…” Amazon Staten Island Vote To Unionize… History, Made.

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I won’t get political about it all, other than to note that Mr. Bezos cannot be surprised by this outcome. He’s a smart guy… and this was the logical conclusion, from his last two decades (until about early 2021 — at least), of managing his labor relations.

And so… driving (in only a decade), from essentially zero — to being the second richest man on the planet, all while employing a weighted average of well over 100,000 lower paid, long hours on shift… workers — was never going to be a sustainable US business model. Especially so, in a tightening set of local US labor markets — like the ones we see today. More, here:

…Amazon workers at a warehouse in the New York City borough of Staten Island became the Seattle-based web giant’s first unionized US workers after winning a historic vote on Friday.

The vote came out to 2,654 votes in favor to 2,131 against unionization, according to National Labor Relations Board officials.

The Amazon Labor Union’s victory came despite the group not being affiliated with any larger union coalition such as the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which is supporting Amazon union efforts in Bessemer, Alabama.

Instead, the organizing group has remained entirely independent since it was formed last year….

[To be clear, my graphic contains the union seal from RWDSU, the union that is still organizing Amazon workers, down in Alabama. These NY workers have yet to sign on with a major warehousers’ union organization. But they likely… will.]

In fact, it may be too late, already — to turn this tide, at Amazon. When public (charity!) television engineers and electricians (both unionized, for a half-century, in Chicago) go out, on strike [retiree benefits, mainly]; Starbucks baristas in several locations have voted to unionize, and in late March Google Fiber contractors in Kansas City, Missouri, supported a union effort, becoming the first workers with bargaining rights under the Alphabet Workers Union… and now, Staten Island votes in a union, after Amazon narrowly escaped union votes, in a few southern states (pre-election 2020)… it should probably be seen as a sea-change. Unions are back, largely because management(s)… didn’t… listen — for over a decade.

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And… The Unconscionable Trump “Confidentiality Agreements” Class Action Rumbles… Onward.

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I don’t much like Omarosa Onee Manigault Newman. She is an odious character, plainly.

But she does have a point overnight in federal court in Manhattan, that Tangerine absolutely used unlawful means to try to silence potential future critics, ones “we the people” paid taxpayer-dollars to, in the White House, to do our business. For good — or ill.

As such, any private agreement attempting to restrict those servants’ (good ones, or bad ones) abilities to speak or write, truthfully — post their time at the White House… is flatly unlawful, excepting only for national security topics. [That she is making money off a tell-all… is simply the way American freedoms work, in practice. It is a feature, not a bug.]

No prior Commander in Chief ever tried to so “lock up” his critics. Yet it was Tangerine’s two-decades’ long… standard practice. [Okay, as a fake Hollywood reality TV / moron star; not so, while holding any federal office.] Disgusting. So, the litigation in Manhattan’s federal courts has freed all to speak and write about first amendment covered topics.

Yet, Tangerine’s lawyers keep filing now-vexatious motions (in other courts around the nation), after losing this battle — to try to force Omarosa (and others) to spend vast sums on legal fees — and thereby “win” by attrition.

What a talkin’ pig. But that insults… all porcine creatures, planet-wide, by association.

My apologies. [While this is… foolishness — it is sadly, not an April Fools’ joke, of any sort. This is really happening in federal courts around the country, even two years later.]

[U: From Paul!] Steve Hayward Thinks The WH 01.06 Six Hour Phone Call Gap Is A “Nothing Burger”. That Won’t Age Well.

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Updated — late on April 1, 2022: Several outlets are confirming that VP Pence has shown documented call logs and perhaps voice messages from Tangerine, on 01.06.21 — ones that are not in the WH call logs, via the switchboard. Tangerine made a habit of using unsecured cell phones for sensitive calls. This all but confirms that Hayward’s hot take was… idiotic. So, this is a big old juicy burger with mushrooms (referring to a specific part of Trump anatomy, per Stormy Daniels!), grilled onions, cheese and fries — of course. End, update.

In context, Steve makes the rather bold claim that the liberals have been buffoons about Tangerine’s cell communications on January 6, 2021.

Gee, I don’t think that hot take will age well. At all. Why?

Well, it turns out that (according to sworn federal court filings) the leader of the Proud Boys, one Enrique Tarrio (arrested on the night before 01.06.2021 — for damage to public property) cell phone review… was just completed in January 2022.

That delay was due to the volume of filter team review material — the veritable avalanche of evidence, in that phone. That, and a complex password scheme Tarrio had employed… meant it took a bit to unlock the phone itself.

I strongly suspect Tangerine was using a non-indexed phone during January 6… but it likely won’t matter, much — since the Tarrio phone materials likely tie Roger Stone directly to “on the ground” orders, in the Tarrio command chain — and the Stone devices likely show near constant contact with the REAL leader of the insurrection attempt, one Donald John Trump.

So, Steve is likely crowing about a very pyrrhic, temporary and small “victory” here.

Out.

John Laments Giving Up Things He Loved As A Child, Because His Heart Is Now… Stone.

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This whole post is… silly. Just… silly.

No one cares if he and his fellow morons boycott Disney. Or its affiliates. They won’t move any needle of material moment. They just ruin… some of the joy in their own lives, as those same lives draw to a sad… close.

So, let’s be practical: his “view” (if a simpleton’s hatred may be called a “view” — at all) is dying off, and aging out — of the target demographic, anyway — of… even being able to walk the parks (without motorized wheelchairs).

So really, John who cares, about you?

I will reiterate here, again, that he lies about what the law provides. And, the law as applied, is clearly unconstitutionally vague, in the eyes of the Supremes, even pre-KBJ’s arrival (soon to come). So it is all for show (another manufactured wedge issue, detached from reality), for Hinderaker.

We will just ignore him, on this and several other topics, henceforth. He is only wrecking his childhood memories, not mine.

Carry on, chucklehead.

Ken Frazier Will Join Eikon Therapeutics Board — Great Snag, By Dr. Perlmutter, Again. “The Band, Back Together…”

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I’m in an ’80s kind of mood today, so… I can’t help but grin — and think of the now very-dated “Joliet Jake and Elwood” Blues references here — so my graphic will oblige.

More seriously, this is big news. With Mr. Frazier’s keen insights, but very “light touch” oversight… this small new-comer has the real potential to be a world-beater. We shall see… sorry, Aretha you’re just going to have to accept it: “we’re gettin’ the band back together.” Here’s FierceBiotech on it all:

…Eikon Therapeutics is getting the Merck & Co. band back together, nabbing former CEO Ken Frazier for its board, the third transfer from the Big Pharma this year after Roy Baynes, M.D., Ph.D., and Ben Thorner joined as chief medical officer and chief business officer, respectively. All three follow Roger Perlmutter, M.D., Ph.D., former president of Merck Research Labs, who left to lead the new venture in 2021….

Out, into the evening — snow ending, and temperatures… rising. And all day, quite a bit of cringe-worthy ’80s music has rattled around my brains, indeed… heh.

नमस्ते

There Are EXACTLY Zero… True Statements In Hinderaker’s Latest COVID Rant…

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But that is all rather scant news.

He’s always been feckless — and quite malevolent — in his pandemic abatement effort lies.

He just needs a wedge issue — and kids are the most convenient one.

What an ass.

In any event, who is going to trust the analysis of a guy who thinks dead people will be one twelfth of what they’ve turned out to be?

Who would trust a guy who (without any scientific training — or even any basis for his statements) would make such a damnably lethal lie part of his mantra for almost six months, while deaths rose five-fold into mid 2021?

Certainly we wouldn’t trust a guy who’s now twelve fold wrong — even if we didn’t think he knew he was lying… but we know. He knew.

He’s a stone cold terrible liar.

Hinderaker Fails To Recognize That $8,000 Is A “Nuisance Value” Settlement..

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Claiming this is any form of vindication (as Hinderaker does, this afternoon) is… well, childish.

Naive at best.

That HRC agreed to pay $8,000 — rather than appeal the FEC fine… is only proof that she’s moved on, and the case was always VERY weak-to-non existent, even in FEC’s eyes.

So — if John thinks Tangerine paying hush money of $150,000 — for a paid sex worker, to shut her up is “nothing” (as he said, back then)… how on Earth is around one twelfth of that figure… (and not for sex acts, but administrivia)… for alleged paperwork violations — if even that they be — a story, at all?

C’mon John — this is… silly.

Out.

The Earliest Observed Star — Named For The Old English Word For “Morning Star”… Was The Mystery — Teased By NASA Last Week.

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This is… simply… excellent. Mystery — revealed. [This is as though (in your mind’s eye, for perspective) — if you’re 67 years old this year — you are getting a real time playback from your fourth birthday party, and seeing onward for a few years, from that point. That’s how old this “footage” would be, if it were. . . of you.]

A star magnified a thousand fold, by a ripple in space-time, the same way wave-crests cast very bright lines on the bottom of a pool, on a sunny day. That’s what’s been seen. I’ll let NASA tell the rest of this story, now:

…The newly detected star [evocatively-named “Earandel”, by Brian Welch of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, for obvious reasons] is so far away that its light has taken 12.9 billion years to reach Earth, appearing to us as it did when the universe was only 7 percent of its current age, at redshift 6.2. The smallest objects previously seen at such a great distance are clusters of stars, embedded inside early galaxies….

Thanks to the rare alignment with the magnifying galaxy cluster, the star Earendel appears directly on, or extremely close to, a ripple in the fabric of space. This ripple, which is defined in optics as a “caustic,” provides maximum magnification and brightening. The effect is analogous to the rippled surface of a swimming pool creating patterns of bright light on the bottom of the pool on a sunny day. The ripples on the surface act as lenses and focus sunlight to maximum brightness on the pool floor.

This caustic causes the star Earendel to pop out from the general glow of its home galaxy. Its brightness is magnified a thousandfold or more….

Astronomers expect that Earendel will remain highly magnified for years to come. It will be observed by NASA’s [Next-Gen] Space Telescope. [That ‘scope’s] high sensitivity to infrared light is needed to learn more about Earendel, because its light is stretched (redshifted) to longer infrared wavelengths due to the universe’s expansion.

“We expect to confirm Earendel is indeed a star [with the new ‘scope], as well as measure its brightness and temperature,” Coe said. These details will narrow down its type and stage in the stellar lifecycle. “We also expect to find the Sunrise Arc galaxy is lacking in heavy elements that form in subsequent generations of stars. This would suggest Earendel is a rare, massive metal-poor star,” Coe said.

Earendel’s composition will be of great interest for astronomers, because it formed before the universe was filled with the heavy elements produced by successive generations of massive stars. If follow-up studies find that Earendel is only made up of primordial hydrogen and helium, it would be the first evidence for the legendary Population III stars, which are hypothesized to be the very first stars born after the big bang. While the probability is small, Welch admits it is enticing all the same….

Now we know — and we will know much more, once NASA beams back the data from the [name redacted] gold-coated hexagonal mirrors, now floating at L2… awaiting a full-on green light, ot begin imaging. This will be one of its first candidates — after the rocky disk we mentioned six summers ago, in all probability… and so, onward, smiling….

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