Thank you for your service, Maverick #halloweekend #newspaper #cockroach

Buy or LEAVE. Starbucks' New Policy If you have ever passed time between meetings at a Starbucks, or run into one to use the bathroom, take heed: Starting this month, only paying customers will be allowed to use Starbucks facilities, after the company unveiled a new code of conduct that reversed an open-door policy amid widespread reports of abuse.“Starbucks spaces are for use by our partners and customers — this includes our cafes, patios and restrooms,” reads the new code of conduct, which will apply to all company-owned stores in North America and will take effect on Jan. 27. The new policy — whose stated goal is to remind customers that they play a role in making Starbucks coffee shops “inviting and welcoming” — warns that violators will be asked to leave and that staff “may ask for help from law enforcement.”Starbucks spokeswoman Jaci Anderson told The Washington Post in a statement that the policy is designed to prioritize paying customers and staff, and to make everyone “feel welcome and comfortable in our stores.”

Here’s why some billionaires are going soft on Trump. With the White House appearing increasingly up for grabs, and especially as polls have tightened, numerous billionaires and other leading executives have taken steps in recent months to stay out of the race — even if they had criticized Trump after the Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, calling his encouragement of the riot a threat to American democracy. Others who previously backed Democrats have stayed silent this election, which some critics and Trump supporters alike have interpreted as a peace offering to the GOP presidential nominee. Two Trump campaign advisers said numerous executives have been trying to reach out to the former president’s team late in the race. “I’ve told CEOs to engage as fast as possible because the clock is ticking … . If you’re somebody who has endorsed Harris, and we’ve never heard from you at any point until after the election, you’ve got an uphill battle,” the Trump adviser said. “People are back-channeling, looking at their networks — they’re talking to lobbyists to see what they can do to connect with the president and his team.” Trump allies hailed what they say are signs of neutrality from other billionaires. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post, decided that The Post would no longer endorse presidential candidates, a change announced last week. The Post had an endorsement of Harris in the works. That came just days after Patrick Soon-Shiong, who owns the Los Angeles Times, blocked that paper’s endorsement of Harris. Both moves sparked an uproar, with critics saying they reflected concerns about the owners’ financial interests — Amazon has billions of dollars in cloud computing contracts with the federal government, and Blue Origin, Bezos’s rocket company, has contracts with the Space Force and NASA. Soon-Shiong, a biotech investor, could have future business before federal regulators. Caption from original article by Jeff Stein, Jacqueline Alemany and Josh Dawsey.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday sided with the Justice Department, which argued that the U.S. government has the authority to ban TikTok based on the national security risk that the Chinese government could pressure TikTok to expose Americans’ data or influence what they see. TikTok’s parent, ByteDance, is based in China.

“MAKE BITCOIN GREAT AGAIN”- Trump As avian flu continues to impact millions of laying hens, causing egg prices to hit an all-time high, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that it will invest $1 billion to try to curb the spread of the virus and bring consumer prices back down to earth. In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the department has developed a five-pronged strategy to eradicate avian flu. That post highlighted several lesser-known digital tokens that would be part of the reserve, including solana, cardano and XRP, a token associated with Ripple. In a second post, Trump added that “obviously, BTC and ETH, as other valuable Cryptocurrencies, will be the heart of the Reserve,” referring to bitcoin — the largest and oldest cryptocurrency — and ether, the token used on the Ethereum network.

DOGE fired (then rehired) nuclear workers. Amid the tumult of mass firings, the Trump administration’s dismissal of workers who maintain America’s nuclear weapons delivered perhaps the greatest shock. These are people with highly sensitive jobs, the Energy Department would later acknowledge, who should have never been fired. Almost all the workers were rehired in an embarrassing about-face, a prominent example of how the administration has had to reverse dismissals in multiple instances where its scattershot approach caused deeper damage to agencies than anticipated. The employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration are stewards of a sprawling government system that keeps 5,000 nuclear warheads secure and ready. They make sure radiation doesn’t leak, weapons don’t mistakenly detonate and plutonium doesn’t get into the wrong hands. Yet late the night before Valentine’s Day, the Trump administration perfunctorily fired 17 percent of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s workforce, over the strenuous objections of senior nuclear officials. “The president said workers critical to national security would be exempt from the firings. But then there was an active decision to say these positions are not critical to national security,” said an official at the nuclear agency, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals. “It is so absurd I don’t even know what to say.” Caption from article by Evan Halper and Hannah Natanson.

Hundreds of probationary employees at NOAA and The National Weather Service were fired on Thursday. A federal judge ruled the mass firing of probationary workers across the government were probably illegal. This week the Social Security Administration also announced it was closing its Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity.

U.S. to spend $1 BILLION on eggs As avian flu continues to impact millions of laying hens, causing egg prices to hit an all-time high, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that it will invest $1 billion to try to curb the spread of the virus and bring consumer prices back down to earth. In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the department has developed a five-pronged strategy to eradicate avian flu.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced plans to sell U.S. residence permits for $5 million — the latest example of what experts call “residence by investment” programs, a popular tool of global mobility for the world’s wealthy elite. Based on reporting by President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced plans to sell U.S. residence permits for $5 million — the latest example of what experts call “residence by investment” programs, a popular tool of global mobility for the world’s wealthy elite. Based on reporting by Annabelle Timsit.

An ‘economic blackout’ is coming for Amazon and other big retailers. A social media campaign has sparked plans for an “economic blackout” on Friday, one of several boycotts planned by activists intent on sending a message to large corporations at a time when many Americans are struggling to keep up with costs. The initiative calls on consumers to suspend all spending, both online and in-person, for one day. Its organizer, The People’s Union USA, bills itself as a nonpartisan, grass-roots movement dedicated to economic resistance. The People’s Union USA website lists boycotts throughout the spring, including: * March 7-14: Amazon, including Whole Foods and Prime purchases (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) * March 21-28: Nestlé, whose brands include Nescafé, Toll House, Stouffer’s and Purina * March 28: A 24-hour economic blackout of all large retailers * April 7 to April 13: Walmart * April 18: A 24-hour economic blackout of all large retailers. * April 21-27: General Mills, whose brands include Betty Crocker, Cheerios, Gold Medal, Green Giant, Pillsbury and Yoplait Caption from article by Ben Brasch and Jaclyn Peiser.

Someone got $38 BILLION in government funding. It’s Elon Musk. his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits, often at critical moments, a Washington Post analysis has found, helping seed the growth that has made him the world’s richest person. The payments stretch back more than 20 years. Shortly after becoming CEO of a cash-strapped Tesla in 2008, Musk fought hard to secure a low-interest loan from the Energy Department, according to two people directly involved with the process, holding daily briefings with company executives about the paperwork and spending hours with a government loan officer. Caption from article by Desmond Butler, Trisha Thadani, Emmanuel Martinez, Aaron Gregg, Luis Melgar, Jonathan O'Connell and Dan Keating.