Shots Fired

Plus: White House Correspondents' Association attacker was angry about strikes on Venezuelan boats and Iranian schools, another airline bailout could be coming, and more...

The man who attacked Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Association dinner was targeting "administration officials," including President Donald Trump, according to a note he left in a hotel room before the incident.

Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old man from Torrance, California, was tackled and taken into custody after he stormed a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, the hotel where the event was being held.

The White House shared a security video of the incident shortly after it unfolded on Saturday night:

"A man charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons, and he was taken down by some very brave members of Secret Service." - President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/N3UTveVNFM

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 26, 2026

In a rambling manifesto that Allen allegedly sent to family and friends just before launching his attack, he said he was "no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes." Elsewhere, the note pointed to "the fisherman executed without trial" and to school children who had been "blown up," apparent references to the Trump administration's military strikes in Venezuela and Iran.

Allen graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He reportedly traveled from his home in Los Angeles to Washington last week.

In an interview on Sunday, Trump called the attacker a "sick person" and said that he hoped the dinner would be rescheduled soon.

Allen is expected to be charged in federal court on Monday.

Build the ballroom. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Trump and many conservative commentators said the incident proved the wisdom of the president's plan to construct a ballroom at the White House.

President Trump: This is why we need the ballroom pic.twitter.com/iUmT2aHKWj

— Popstonox (@Popstonox) April 26, 2026

I don't want to hear one more fucking criticism of Trump's new ballroom at the White House.

— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) April 26, 2026

This actually makes very little sense. For one, the White House Correspondents' Association is a private entity, and the president is a guest at their dinner. Assuming that the dinner would take place at the White House, if it had a ballroom, seems erroneous.

More importantly, I don't understand the rush to claim that security at the Hilton somehow failed. The would-be gunman was stopped and arrested long before he got close enough to harm any of his intended targets.

Subsequent investigations may reveal some failure, but from the perspective of Monday morning, it looks like the security apparatus worked more or less as intended.

The shooting happened on the level above the ballroom where the White House Correspondents Association dinner was.
I don't think people hearing about this -- or even those of us in the room -- realized how far from the president, VP and other guests this incident was. It was on… pic.twitter.com/TO5VEJdB0Q

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 26, 2026

Of course, the Trump administration may want to use this attack to advance the ballroom project—a federal judge halted the project earlier this month because it lacked congressional approval and failed to address a vital national security issue. Or Trump could simply do what he should have done from the beginning and get permission from Congress to build the thing.

An even bigger airline bailout might be coming.

Now that Spirit Airlines has lined up a $500 million bailout from the White House, other low-cost carriers are putting their hands out too. The Wall Street Journal reports that Frontier and Avelo are part of a group that's seeking $2.5 billion in government aid.

As Spirit did, the other airlines are reportedly offering partial stakes or equity to the federal government, according to the Journal's reporting. Executives from several low-cost airlines reportedly met with Department of Transportation officials last week to make the request.

It's almost like bailouts create moral hazards and bad incentives.

---

Scenes from Virginia: I took a lovely weekend road trip to Roanoke, Virginia, and along the way made my first-ever pit stop at a Buc-ee's—the Texas-based chain of supersized convenience stores that opened its first Virginia location last year.

Eric Boehm

And it was awesome. Have you ever been to a gas station that sells freshly made beef brisket and a dozen varieties of fudge? Now, I have. Here is an entire wall dedicated to beef jerky.

Eric Boehm

At more than 75,000 square feet and with more than 100 gas pumps, Virginia's first Buc-ee's is a dizzying display of pure, uncompromising American capitalism. Even the paintings on the walls of the hallway leading to the bathrooms are for sale. Truly, an experience.

There could soon be another Buc-ee's closer to Washington, D.C., but the project is currently being slowed by people who are worried that it might cause traffic…on I-95. C'mon.

---

QUICK LINKS

• The Atlantic profiles Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.), "one of the few Republicans who is unafraid of President Trump."
• On the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl meltdown, Reason's Ron Bailey takes a look at how "central planning and totalitarian secrecy," not nuclear power, should be blamed for the crisis.
• New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani used Ken Griffin's Manhattan penthouse as the backdrop for a video announcing a new "tax the rich" scheme. Now, Griffin's company, Citadel Securities, might be pulling the plug on a $6 billion construction project and other investments in the city. Someday, politicians will realize that capital is mobile.
• Bob Odenkirk on aging: "In the face of what I consider the limitations of being a person, which are strict and seem immutable, we've got to keep trying. I don't know what the future is if we don't hope to be better than we are right now."
• Sabastian Sawe finished the London Marathon in less than two hours on Sunday, becoming the first runner to achieve that milestone in an official race. That's an astonishing pace of 4:33 per mile, for more than 26 miles!

Sabastian Sawe & Yomif Kejelcha both just ran the London Marathon in UNDER 2 HOURS!!!

A WORLD RECORD! pic.twitter.com/MRNzuNsz15

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 26, 2026

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Trump and many conservative commentators said the incident proved the wisdom of the president's plan to construct a ballroom at the White House.

Republicans pounce.

[Bubba Jones]

Never let a crisis go to waste.

Never admit that the Hilton proved to be entirely adequate.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Thank god for incompetent assassins to prove there is no issue right? Like choosing buckshot. The only reason it wasn't worse.

[BYODB]

You'd think all the media types there would have noticed that the guy was willing to shoot his way through every last one of them to get to Trump, but I'd guess not very many of them see the irony in that.

Either way, I'm glad this guy didn't kill anyone before he was taken down. I might loathe media types, but they don't deserve death for their speech even if it might have contributed to this guys 'mental health episode'.

[Marshal]

They may not deserve it, but the left isn't going to stop advocating violence until it starts hurting them. Maybe a few dead Dem press officers will hasten that dramatically enough that the net impact will be less violence.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

It didnt help in Minnesota.

[Marshal]

The Minnesotan nobodies were supposed to die to create martyrs, important leftists could have been killed at the WHCD.

[Its_Not_Inevitable]

They'd just anti-gun harder.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

I like how reason went with the rambling angle as if it wasn't him pushing corporate and blue sky lies.

The very narratives reason smiles at has a brainwashing effect for dem midwits. This is intentional.

[Spiritus Mundi]

Boehm and Reeeeeason continue to push those lies:

Elsewhere, the note pointed to "the fisherman executed without trial" and to school children who had been "blown up," apparent references to the Trump administration's military strikes in Venezuela and Iran.

Those were not references to the strikes. They are a regurgitation of leftwing propagandists' mischaracterization of those events. In other words, lies.

To bad he didn't include abusing 'maryland fathers.'

[damikesc]

We know exactly who radicalized the man. If this was a right wing social media site, Reason would be on the frontlines of condemning the radicalization.

[Medulla Oblongata]

"right wing social media site" like Act Blue?

[damikesc]

Does it really need to be stated?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The man who attacked Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Association dinner was targeting "administration officials," including President Donald Trump...

But not Kash. I'm wondering what's going on there.

[Bubba Jones]

I love the confidence that he thought he'd somehow manage to get anywhere near his targets, much less make choices about who *not* to shoot.

LOL

[Fist of Etiquette]

His manifesto had him, at worst, going to the hospital. He seemed to also have confidence he wasn't going to be killed. THIS IS HOW WE KNOW THIS WAS STAGED.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Also not one word about a trans lover.

[Spiritus Mundi]

Or he plays too many video games.

[Its_Not_Inevitable]

He would just keep restarting from his hiding place till he ran out of lives.

[Ajsloss]

Perhaps he was just a drunk idiot streaking from the quad to the gymnasium? (There's more coming)

[HorseConch]

He did it early enough that KFC was definitely still open.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Names on the list were white. Intersectionality is part of the brain washing.

[Zeb]

I thought Indians counted as white now.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Think it is still fluid.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Only the Uncle Tomendras.

[Zeb]

Yeah, that was interesting and puzzling.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

But Allen donated to Act Blue, so that makes him MAGA, right?

[Medulla Oblongata]

Not all teachers are captured by the machine.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/i-m-an-nyc-teacher-grading-equity-is-destroying-our-schools/ar-AA219RKu

I was stunned when I heard of a student at a friend’s school who received credit for all his classes despite failing to show up for an entire semester — with an English credit, for example, awarded based merely on poems he’d written at home.

Meanwhile, Harvard students think grades are racist (of course they do). Ah, the racism of lowered expectations.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/harvard-students-revolt-over-new-grading-policy-they-call-racist/ar-AA21zY6Z

"We center racism as a core concern, contending that although the policy is framed as neutral ‘differentiation,’ it functions as a system of ranking and sorting that mirrors and reinforces existing racial and socioeconomic hierarchies," the petition reads. "Because first-generation, low-income (FGLI) students and students of color are disproportionately affected by structural inequities long before arriving on campus, the policy would compound those disadvantages rather than correct them."

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

I propose a real challenge for the little socialist fucktards at Harvard: give them all the same mediocre grade. For equity.

[Spiritus Mundi]

They do, they all get a Harvard "A".

[Zeb]

So the policy seems to be returning to having A grades actually mean something and reflect exceptional work. Seems pretty racist to insist that some groups need easy As. Grade inflation was bad enough 25 years ago, I can't imagine what it's like now.

[mad.casual]

Along those lines; OK, that guy's survivors get his full pension and death benefits:

Buffalo Grove HS security guard dies after trying to shield students from crash

Oddly, no citation (yet) for whomever struck the pole leaving the parking lot that fell on Rivas.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...he said he was "no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes."

Someone's feed is mostly Blue Anon Twitter.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Masto-Sky?

[Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)]

Or a Jimmy Kimmel monologue

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Should we put out some red flags on molly, shrike, and sarc?

[Medulla Oblongata]

Blue Sky?

[Medulla Oblongata]

Do it!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/chevron-threatens-to-leave-california-due-to-taxes-emission-rules-other-regulations-warning-the-state-is-playing-a-dangerous-game/ar-AA21GZem

Chevron threatens to leave California due to taxes, emission rules, other regulations — warning the state is playing a dangerous game

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Yes, please.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

While a yes from me, arizona is effected by their bullshit as they start importing gas from arizona. Should sue.

[damikesc]

There's also the not insignificant issue of military bases in CA. The state's idiocy directly impacts the utility of said bases.

[Marshal]

That's federal land not subject to state rules. They'll have to start importing fuel but they can use anything complaint with federal law.

[I, Woodchipper]

this will lower the price of housing in Pleasanton and San Ramon and Danville. 20,000 Indian families will have to move back to mumbai

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

And 20,000 baristas and hobos can move in?

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'In a rambling manifesto that Allen allegedly sent to family and friends just before launching his attack, he said he was "no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes."'

Perhaps sex change therapy would have calmed him down.

[Spiritus Mundi]

I didn't know Mohammad was president.

[mad.casual]

I what you *think* you're *trying* to say with the words "no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes", but what you're *actually* saying with those words is very different.

[Neutral not Neutered]

Has he shown the police man where he was touched? Or point to where the man he wanted to kill made him touch?

[Fist of Etiquette]

More importantly, I don't understand the rush to claim that security at the Hilton somehow failed.

Were you listening to the Dude's story? He mocked the security arrangements as Babytown Frolicks.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Trans teacher's school shooting spree thwarted. Of course, it's Loudoun County, Virginia. Sheriff booked her into male jail, though.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/trans-substitute-teacher-arrested-for-allegedly-planning-murder-spree-at-high-school/ar-AA21IjMX

the threats included going on a "murder spree" at a school.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Too local.

[Spiritus Mundi]

An isolated incident. Don't give into transphobia.

[MK Ultra]

I haven't heard nor seen it reported on by any local radio or television stations.

[Social Justice is neither]

Did they promote the student rapist or is this another in a very small subset of all people?

[I, Woodchipper]

The plague of tranny violence must be addressed. We can't go on like this.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Elsewhere, the note pointed to "the fisherman executed without trial" and to school children who had been "blown up," apparent references to the Trump administration's military strikes in Venezuela and Iran.

Okay, which on of you fellow Reason readers is actually Cole???

[Ajsloss]

Nardz has been quiet for a real long time.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Its more of our fellow leftists who have the same talking points.

[Spiritus Mundi]

Reader or 'editor'?

[Fist of Etiquette]

A man charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons, and he was taken down by some very brave members of Secret Service.

I'm surprised he survived. And also that he was apparently apprehended naked.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Or just the new federal regs to verify gender.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Attacking someone naked is next level assassination theory.

[Rick James]

He was "Teacher of the Month".

[Medulla Oblongata]

Don't hate me...

https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/2048241496126591072

Just to be clear, the theory that leftists are running with is that the Trump Administration somehow convinced a registered Democrat to volunteer to go to prison for the rest of his life so that they could use him as a patsy for a third staged assassination attempt -- one that, they apparently believe, was concocted mostly to justify building a White House ballroom that's already being built anyway. That's their theory of the case here.

https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/2048431745628868940

I’m officially convinced. It was a hoax. The Trump Administration recruited a leftist Kamala Harris voting Trump hater to participate in a staged assassination that would include the shooter getting shot at and then locked in federal prison for the rest of his life. The Kamala Harris voter agreed to this plan, that works against his political and personal interests, because he’s just like a really generous guy. Meanwhile the Trump Administration, despite dastardly planning multiple assassination hoaxes, decided to keep their patsy alive and a permanent liability to them, rather than just killing him like they could have easily done. They did this because they also are really strangely generous in a very odd and specific way. So in summary we have a plot where all parties involved are working against their own interests with no real discernible benefit to any of them. There is no evidence of this plan and it doesn’t even make any intuitive sense and the motives for everyone are unclear if not insane, but still I believe it because I’m a very smart person.

[MT-Man]

(Not my feelings on the matter just what I'm seeing on the web so noting it) Others seem to be thinking this too, the sides are coming together, the horseshoe is meeting again. The ZH boards are lively with this talk also.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

That probably makes more sense at a D.C. cocktail party after a couple of Cosmos.

[BYODB]

I don't really understand why the left has to pretend that all these assassination attempts are false flags.

Like, ok, I can almost understand thinking that for one assassination but at some point after the second or third assassin you have to assume they wouldn't keep getting away with faking it...right? Especially with all the 'resistance' types inside the administration?

[Spiritus Mundi]

The left 24/7: I wish somebody would 86/47
Somebody tries: False flag!!!

[Medulla Oblongata]

But spraying some vinegar is 100% assassination attempt.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Compulsive projection?

[mad.casual]

So in summary we have a plot where all parties involved are working against their own interests with no real discernible benefit to any of them. There is no evidence of this plan and it doesn’t even make any intuitive sense and the motives for everyone are unclear if not insane, but still I believe it because I’m a very smart person.

Sounds like modern film making to me.

[Social Justice is neither]

To be fair, the average Kamala voter isn't very bright so I could see both the recruiting and the conspiracy theory taking hold there.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Now that Spirit Airlines has lined up a $500 million bailout from the White House, other low-cost carriers are putting their hands out too.

Maybe the idea is creating a flypaper (emphasis on fly) effect, collecting all the pajama bottom wearing unwashed masses on a few select airlines while the rest of us travel sans the hoi polloi garbage that comes with cheap airline tickets.

[Medulla Oblongata]

"It's almost like bailouts create moral hazards and bad incentives."

Yeah, and most everyone here last week was against it.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

6 hours after manifesto released, media and dema continued to pretend nobody knew the motive. Such as obama.

Barack Obama

@BarackObama
Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night's shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s incumbent upon all us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy. It’s also a sobering reminder of the courage and sacrifice that U.S. Secret Service Agents show every day. I’m grateful to them – and thankful that the agent who was shot is going to be okay.

We have also seen most of corporate media try to blame Trump for the rhetoric and elevated violence despite Cole Allen using all the dem rhetoric.

[NealAppeal]

The first full article I came across Sunday AM spent a lot of time talking about the weapons he had and how easy it was to obtain them all while crossing state borders...sprinkled with high level points of the attempted attack.

[Ajsloss]

while crossing state borders

Quick! Where's the nearest fainting couch?

[damikesc]

Also kinda funny how the "CROSSED STATE LINES!" concerns never seem to be uttered at progressive incidents...

[Spiritus Mundi]

Build the walls!!!

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

As always, their violence is speech, and our speech is violence. Or blasphemy. Or mean.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

All of Ilhan Omars wealth had disappeared including all the businesses from her husband. Businesses set up to be simple pass through and "investment" vehicles without assets.

https://nypost.com/2026/04/24/us-news/ilhan-omar-husbands-california-winery-closes-its-doors-amid-scrutiny-of-congresswomans-family-finances/

[Medulla Oblongata]

He didn't do nuffin!

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15762071/nyc-teen-stomps-girl-east-harlem.html?ico=comment-anchor

A mother whose teenage son was jailed for assault after he was filmed slamming a classmate to the ground and stomping on her face claims her boy is the victim.

Horrifying footage shared online shows the moment the unidentified 14-year-old boy confronted the girl, 15, on an East Harlem street corner Monday afternoon.

'I'll knock the s**t out of you right now,' he told the girl as he stopped her in the crosswalk. His friends can be heard in the background, encouraging an attack.

The girl tried to walk off and told him to 'get the f*** away from me, p***y,' but he grabbed her from behind, lifted her up and slammed her to the ground.

The boy, his face partially disguised by a mask, then stomped on her head as she lay on the ground. After the brutal assault, he strutted off towards his friends.

It is unclear why he launched the attack, but social media reports suggest he did so after the girl refused to give him her number or be his girlfriend.

Now the boy's mother, Sealema Allen, has claimed the assault was a 'retaliation' to the 15-year-old bullying her 'quiet' Christian son.

'She was being a bully to him, that's it,' Allen told The New York Post, alleging the girl 'pushed him' in the lead-up to the attack. The footage circulating online does not depict that alleged moment.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Meanwhile, the culture continues to thrive...

https://nypost.com/2026/04/24/us-news/nyc-girl-brutally-stomped-by-teen-boy-has-been-repeatedly-sent-video-of-her-attack-by-heartless-tormenters/

A 15-year-old girl viciously slammed to the ground and stomped on by a teenage boy after refusing his advances has been repeatedly sent video of the stomach-turning attack by twisted tormentors — forcing her to relive it, her mom told The Post.

Lucinda Arroyo, of East Harlem, fears her daughter will be re-traumatized by footage sent by kids who see the sick assault as “entertainment,” she said Thursday.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

I am surprised she didn't blame Whitey. Or Trump.

[mad.casual]

Anybody else remember when a "group of youths" tried to steal a ride share bike from a pregnant nurse in NYC who brought receipts and we were all told it was a non-story?

Me neither.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Have you ever been to a gas station that sells freshly made beef brisket and a dozen varieties of fudge? Now, I have.

Boehm is his generation's Boris Yeltsin. GET OUT OF YOUR PINKO COMMIE COASTAL BUBBLE, PEOPLE.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Wait until they find out people can buy guns in stores.

[Minadin]

We had a store in town near where I grew up in Southeast Missouri that was:

a) a gas station
b) convenience store
c) gun and ammunition store
d) ice cream parlor
e) all of the above

[Medulla Oblongata]

I've been to the one there in Roanoke. Stopped there last summer, but didn't linger. Just fueled and pissed, but checked the box for "went to Bucee's".

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Many years ago, when I lived and worked in Texas, I played host for a group from our Norway office. We drove from Houston to west central Texas for some geologic sight-seeing, and stopped at a Buc-ee's.

My Norwegians were gob-smacked. First by the temple of snack food exuberance and overt capitalism. And then by seeing all the locals gassing and snack-loading up on their way to deer hunting, which in Texas can look like Saddam's army invading Kuwait.

[mad.casual]

If there must be a massive gas station, smoked meat, convenience store war, let it be in my children's day, so that my children don't get barbecue sauce all over my back seat.

Facilities featuring "• 20 women’s stalls • 10 men’s stalls/11 urinals" in Illinois? You're asking for trouble boy.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

3rd most expensive lawfirm in the world, 3k an hour, caught using AI to create briefs. Riddled with false citations.

https://www.businessinsider.com/sullivan-and-cromwell-apologizes-ai-hallucinations-court-filing-2026-4

And can we please stop calling this shit hallucinations?

[Michael Ejercito]

How can we trust self-driving cars?

[Spiritus Mundi]

Compaired to people? Have you seen people?

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Most progressives would NOT approve the unconstrained deployment of people. At least regular people.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

You just read too many Steven King books.

[BYODB]

I guess it sounds better than saying 'our AI models are about as trustworthy as the reddit posts they were trained on'.

If I can't trust AI to give accurate information on, say, video game guides then why the fuck should I trust it to drive my car or teach my child?

[Bubba Jones]

tbf. It's not unheard of for a new Buc-ee's to require a complete reconstruction of the freeway exit to manage the traffic flow.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Bostock continues to be pne of the worst scotus decisions in a long time as Montana uses its terrible rationalization to overturn voter derived laws.

https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/04/montana-high-court-allows-gender-identity-birth-certificates-drivers-licenses/

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Atlantic profiles Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.), "one of the few Republicans who is unafraid of President Trump."

Also one of many politicians blissfully ignorant of how to handle Trump.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Starbucks moving thousands of jobs from Seattle to Nashville.

https://www.newstribune.com/news/2026/apr/20/is-starbucks-breaking-up-with-seattle/

But the company’s apparent restlessness is triggering flashbacks of other major Seattle exits, like Boeing’s move of its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago in 2001, or the departure of Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City in 2008.

It’s also fueling the already heated narrative over the business climate in Washington and Seattle, where taxes are up and corporate citizens complain they’ve become political punching bags.

It’s no coincidence, wags say, that Bellevue lease rumors surfaced soon after Seattle Mayor-elect Katie Wilson urged Seattleites to boycott Starbucks at a Nov. 13 union rally.

Or that the Nashville office will likely allow Starbucks to save millions of dollars under Washington’s recently enacted state tax on IT services.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Seems like some will not make the move, guess they'll quit?

https://nypost.com/2026/04/22/business/lefty-starbucks-office-workers-refuse-to-move-from-seattle-to-new-hq-in-deep-red-tennessee-report/

Starbucks office workers are reportedly balking at orders to relocate to the company’s new $100 million Nashville hub, with some left-leaning workers repulsed by the prospect of living and working in the capital of deep-red Tennessee.

The java giant has been struggling to persuade employees to move from Seattle — even after warning some they could lose their jobs if they refuse, Bloomberg News reported.

Dollars and cents appeared to trump politics for Starbucks as it sought to expand its corporate footprint.

Starbucks’ Nashville push is part of a broader $100 million investment that is expected to bring as many as 2,000 jobs to the city over the next five years, with a temporary office opening this spring and a permanent hub slated for 2027, according to company plans.

The new office will serve as a second corporate base alongside the chain’s Seattle HQ.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

And liberals will cry this is union busting like the idiots they are.

[BYODB]

In some fairness, if the company I worked for relocated halfway across the country I'd probably tell them to get bent too. I doubt it's the politics so much as the uprooting one's entire life just for a job that could probably be done remotely from anywhere.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Depends on the relo package.

And as a manager with a split between remote and on site workers, the former workers tend to produce a lot less and im constantly wasting my time checking on their progress.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

"Boeing’s move of its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago in 2001"

Worst corporate own goal ever?

[Medulla Oblongata]

OTOH, they do keep moving more and more from Washington plant to South Carolina plant (amid a $1B expansion of that SC site), and the union in Washington keeps screaming about it.

[Rick James]

We voted for it.

[mad.casual]

Starbucks moves thousands of jobs from Seattle to Nashville. Microsoft, Meta, et. al. open hundreds of data centers in rural towns. Several other large corporate headquarters leave Silicon Valley/California.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...Ron Bailey takes a look at how "central planning and totalitarian secrecy," not nuclear power, should be blamed for the crisis.

Pretend running a nuclear power plant is like distributing a vaccine, Ron.

[Rick James]

Boom.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'I took a lovely weekend road trip to Roanoke, Virginia, and along the way made my first-ever pit stop at a Buc-ee's—the Texas-based chain of supersized convenience stores that opened its first Virginia location last year. And it was awesome.'

Another libertine urbanista discovers free enterprise.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Someday, politicians will realize that capital is mobile.

They're working hard on that.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sabastian Sawe finished the London Marathon in less than two hours on Sunday, becoming the first runner to achieve that milestone in an official race.

THAT NAME DOESN'T FOOL ME I KNOW YOU'RE KENYAN

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Only variety of dried animal not seen at Buc-ee's: beaver jerky.

[Ajsloss]

Did you check the parking lot? Between the big rigs?

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Buc-ee's actually prohibits big rigs. But we can go beaver hunting down the road at Flying J.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Communism taking a strange turn...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/middle-class-professionals-are-proudly-shoplifting-as-an-act-of-political-resistance/ar-AA21EGl0

At a Whole Foods grocery shop in New York, a basic loaf of bread will set you back about $8 (£5.90). A certain kind of Brooklynite, however, can help themselves to this and other basic cooking staples, such as lemons, for free. The qualification for this excellent bargain? A $2.2m Brooklyn townhouse, an architect for a spouse and a few bylines in the illustrious New York Times (NYT).

These are the strange new rules of shoplifting. It is acceptable – even laudable – to steal from chain supermarkets, so long as you are a wealthy person doing it all in the name of progressive values.

[Medulla Oblongata]

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15760333/jia-tolentino-shoplifting-foods-anger.html

Woke author who boasted about shoplifting from Whole Foods flies into foul-mouthed RAGE when confronted outside her $2.2m Brooklyn brownstone

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Intersectional "capitalism"?

[Medulla Oblongata]

I see that Robby hit this Friday. My bad.

[damikesc]

These same people whine about food deserts as well.

They don't see the connection.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'Someday, politicians will realize that capital is mobile.'

Um, most socialist politician know that quite well. And they plan to mobilize as much capital as they can, from private hands into the wise, caring control of the state.

[Super Scary]

"Assuming that the dinner would take place at the White House, if it had a ballroom, seems erroneous."

I think it's a pretty fair assumption that events run by an entity called "WHITE HOUSE Correspondents' Association" would typically hold events in/around the white house.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'As Spirit did, the other airlines are reportedly offering partial stakes or equity to the federal government, according to the Journal's reporting. Executives from several low-cost airlines reportedly met with Department of Transportation officials last week to make the request.'

Cool! If the feds are part owners, will they create People's Class seating in the cabin? Or just semi-permanent hobo camps?

[Ajsloss]

New Epstein Files Distraction Unlocked!

[Medulla Oblongata]

Supposed to be a new Buc-ee's near me, too, but the state is balking at having to rework an interchange on I-85 to enable the expected traffic.

[damikesc]

"This actually makes very little sense. For one, the White House Correspondents' Association is a private entity, and the president is a guest at their dinner. Assuming that the dinner would take place at the White House, if it had a ballroom, seems erroneous."

If a group has any desire for the President to appear, there'd be a secure location for it. A dude would not get into the WH armed like that.

But you knew that...oh wait, Reason writer. No, you did not know that.

[Spiritus Mundi]

Shots Fired - "Reportedly"

[I, Woodchipper]

a federal judge halted the project earlier this month because it lacked congressional approval

The judiciary has full control of the construction plans for anything on white house property. It's right there spelled out explicitly in the constitution.

[I, Woodchipper]

The Atlantic profiles Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.), "one of the few Republicans who is unafraid of President Trump."

"afraid" lol. Journalists aren't people.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

They also now celebrate MTG, Candace owens, Fuentes, etc.

[Neutral not Neutered]

Maybe he is related to Biden and delusions of the cannibal uncle swimming through his head left him no choice but to take out the writers whom mocked Joe's story?

"no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes."

[Warren]

it was awesome. Have you ever been to a gas station that sells freshly made beef brisket and a dozen varieties of fudge?

Gas station food is the opposite of awesome, no matter how big and clean the store, or the quality of the food. It's still a fucking gas station. Kroger and Walmart know enough to put the pumps on the other side of the parking lot. But it seems you can never go broke catering to people with shit taste.

[But SkyNet is a Private Company]

Try the fudge, dummy

[Warren]

Bob Odenkirk on aging: "In the face of what I consider the limitations of being a person, which are strict and seem immutable, we've got to keep trying. I don't know what the future is if we don't hope to be better than we are right now."

It's death Bob. Your future is eternal nonexistence. Same as it ever was.

[Neutral not Neutered]

It's all the violent words that makes these wonderful folks violent. I mean, what else could it be?

[Marshal]

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Trump and many conservative commentators said the incident proved the wisdom of the president's plan to construct a ballroom at the White House.

The assignment is to determine how they can turn the assassination attempt into a criticism of the right.

C+. You met the requirement but not in a particularly meaningful or compelling way.

[Rick James]

The man who attacked Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Association dinner was targeting "administration officials," including President Donald Trump

*lol snort*

Republicans...amirite?

[NoVaNick]

Why was the guy shirtless, was he planning to streak the event, or visit a DuPont circle bar afterwards?

[MollyGodiva]

As for the ballroom, this even does not affect the legal analysis. Neither the Constitution nor federal law contains a security exception to the requirement that Congress approves all funding. The country would be badly harmed if we allow a president to bypass Congress in the name of national security.

[NoVaNick]

And yet, presidents from both parties routinely bypass Congress in the name of national security. See Joe Biden’s bullying of Facebook and Obama’s targeted drone killings.

[MollyGodiva]

False. Presidents do not regularly, or as far as I know ever, bypass Congress in relation to funding. Your examples are not relevant and how just how simplistic MAGAs are.

[NoVaNick]

Someone had to pay the drone pilots who killed the Pakistanis at that wedding, or Meta to police COVID “disinformation”. That’s called funding.

[NoVaNick]

I am sure there will never be a Buc-ees anywhere near DC. Gov Abby won’t allow it because they sell fossil fuels, tobacco, and junk food which her NoVa supporters all find icky.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"...no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes..."

The sombitch forgot that Biden's been out of office for a while.