Three brief items

1. Equus Total Return

The incumbents won. Dissidents claim moral victory. Why am I reminded of Calvin & Hobbes? Calvin would claim a moral victory even when Susie turned the tables on him, and of course he could count on the support of one tiger pal.

As I've noted here Equus Total Return is a business development company (BDC) HQ-ed in Houston that trades as a closed-end fund on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Committee to Enhance Equus says: "We also believe that the Company conducted the meeting in a manner intended to discourage personal attendance and voting by shareholders....Despite these concerns about the integrity of the process, we have concluded that further contest of the 2010 board election is not in the best interests of the Company or its shareholders."

2. Greg Meyer

Greg Meyer, a shareholder of Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI), seeks to have himself elected to that company's board.

The meeting is scheduled for June 24, in Dallas, Texas.

Control of the board is not at issue. So far as I can tell, Meyer represents only himself and would occupy just one seat out of seven. The one currently held by Gary Fernandes.

3. Seattle pension fund demand rejected.

Meanwhile, a court has told pension fund managers in Seattle that they should act like big boys and wipe those tears, despite losses in connection with Epsilon Global Active Value Fund II.

The Seattle City Employees' Retirement System had requested a preliminary injunction to force Epsilon executives to provide audited financial statements etc.

The judge, Richard Jones of the U.S. District Court, observed that "SCERS did not contract for transparency" when it made the investment.

Microsoft annual meeting

Microsoft is holding its annual shareholders meeting in downtown Seattle, Washington, tomorrow.

There are two contested shareholder resolutions on the agenda. One proposal, from the New York City Pension Fund, requests that "management institute policies to help protect freedom of access to the Internet" including certain minimum standards. The NYC pension fund is managed by the office of the comptroller there, William C. Thompson.

Mr. Thompson notes, on behalf of his proposal: "that some authoritarian foreign governments such as the Governments of Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam block, restrict, and monitor the information their citizens attempt to obtain."

The company recommends through its proxy statement that shareholders vote "no" on this: "In our view the most effective approach toward this subject requires more flexibility than the proposed standards would allow. We believe that availability of our products and services has increased the ability of people worldwide to engage in free expression and has helped transform the economic, cultural, and political landscape of nations throughout the world."

The second proposal would establish a board committee on human rights. The company likewise recommends a No vote on this one.