Whether you believe in QAnon or not, one of the points that Q made was the claim that pedophilia tied together many of the world's power brokers.  That's would make it unsurprising that Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted pedophile who continued his wicked ways even after his conviction, had such a big network of rich and powerful people who knew about his vicious propensities and seemingly didn't care.  Even knowing that, it's still big news to learn that Bill Gates, one of the world's richest and most powerful men, allegedly had a deep friendship with Epstein.

The Daily Beast has the story, which saw Gates hang out with Epstein, confiding in him about Gates's "toxic" marriage and seeking advice from the sex offender:

Gates used the gatherings at Epstein's $77 million New York townhouse as an escape from what he told Epstein was a "toxic" marriage, a topic both men found humorous, a person who attended the meetings told The Daily Beast.

The billionaire met Epstein dozens of times starting in 2011 and continuing through to 2014 mostly at the financier's Manhattan home — a substantially higher number than has been previously reported. Their conversations took place years before Bill and Melinda Gates announced this month that they were splitting up.

Gates, in turn, encouraged Epstein to rehabilitate his image in the media following his 2008 guilty plea for soliciting a minor for prostitution, and discussed Epstein becoming involved with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Let's really think about this alleged friendship.  Jeffrey Epstein was convicted in 2008, when it emerged that he'd sexually abused at least 36 girls, some as young as 14.  (Technically, Epstein's predilection for young teens makes him a cross between a hebephile (likes kids aged 11–14) and an ephebophile (15–16), but it's still morally and legally wrong.)

While there's some mercy that Epstein wasn't assaulting babies and toddlers, the fact is that he wanted to have sex with children, that he did have sex with children, that he went to prison for doing so and that, after emerging from prison, he often retreated to a private island outside American jurisdiction so he could abuse teenage girls to his heart's content.  Not only that, but famous people liked to fly on his plane and stay on his island.

And then there's Bill Gates, whose vast fortune made him one of the richest men in the world, whose foundation and connections made him one of the most powerful men in the world, and whose interest in population growth (he's against it) makes him one of the scarier men in the world.  This is not a man who should be having a bromance with a convicted sex offender — yet there the two men allegedly were hanging in Epstein's mansion, yukking it up about poor Melinda.

The story — for now — is that Gates reveled in the men's club atmosphere at Epstein's home:

The people familiar with the matter said Gates found freedom in Epstein's lair, where he met a rotating cast of bold-faced names and discussed worldly issues in between rounds of jokes and gossip — a "men's club" atmosphere that irritated Melinda.

"[It's] not an overstatement. Going to Jeffrey's was a respite from his marriage. It was a way of getting away from Melinda," one of the people who was at several of the meetings said, adding that Epstein and Gates "were very close."

Naturally, a spokesman for Gates denies the story, saying everything about it is untrue:

A representative for Bill Gates told The Daily Beast: "Your characterization of his meetings with Epstein and others about philanthropy is inaccurate, including who participated. Similarly, any claim that Gates spoke of his marriage or Melinda in a disparaging manner is false."

The spokesperson disputed the number of times Epstein and Gates met and said the two men never discussed Epstein getting involved with the foundation.

Perhaps because I dislike Bill Gates and his politics, and I've never liked his products although I'm pretty much stuck with them, I prefer to believe the salacious version, not the spokesperson's denials.

The article does quote a friend who claims that Bill loved the intellectual atmosphere and freedom at Epstein's house.  I don't know, but that reminds me of all those men back in the 1960s who claimed they bought Playboy to read the articles.  For jaded rich people, Epstein's cachet was the hint of prison and perversion, not his witty conversation and insights into marital bliss.

One of the reasons I always hated MS-Word was because it was easy to get started, but if you wanted to refine your work product, the deeper you got into the program, the uglier, more complicated, and more difficult it got.  It's beginning to look as if MS-Word has a lot in common with Bill Gates, a man who initially seemed like a dorky nerd who had to be reminded to brush his teeth and is turning out to be a workplace sexual harasser, lousy husband, and way-too-close-a-friend to Jeffrey Epstein.

Image: Bill Gates, YouTube screengrab. Jeffrey Epstein, mug shot.

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