Tues. Jan. 30, 2024 – Cookies will brighten your day…

Cool to cold-ish again, then warming with the sun… like yesterday. It was pretty chilly at the bus stop, watching my breath condense, but the driver was on time and I was back in the warm house lickety-split. And isn’t that a strange turn of phrase? It did warm up as the day went on, until I was in shorts and a t-shirt in the afternoon. I’m hoping today is the same- cool enough to work in the attic, and to strain, but not so cool I need extra layers.

Spent the day getting caught up on some auction stuff, knowing I had to get both kids from after school activities within 15 minutes of each other… Stayed close to home and didn’t get into any involved projects.

Dinner was my biggest project. I found the freezer door slightly open, and a pork roast pretty much thawed out… The rest of the freezer was still rock hard, so that was a plus. It meant cooking the roast pretty soon though, and yesterday was one day later. It was delicious. I made sauteed cabbage and onion, and honeyed baby carrots, with naan bread on the side. Which got me thinking about this year’s garden. Cabbage. Onions. Carrots. Collards. Turnips. Beets. Potatoes. Staples that last all winter. I hope they will grow in my soil. I personally only had luck with the beets and carrots and collards in the past. I’ll run it past my neighbor, and see what he thinks. Tomatoes and peas are nice, but will they feed your family in January? Put some thought into it.

And then stack some cans in case the deer, or the neighbors, or the weather, or the pests get your garden.

Today is more of the same. I’m really trying to organize and move stuff to get ready for cookie season. Selling it would be good too, but moving it has to happen.

I looked at prices and availability of ammo at my local sporting goods store. They had a lot in stock. I’m swinging by there later today, as I didn’t get to it yesterday. Hope I beat the rush. Some of the online sellers have stock too, check the usual suspects. There are always shortages and panics, but really, can you say that you have enough?

Stacks. Lots of stacks.

nick

64 Comments and discussion on "Tues. Jan. 30, 2024 – Cookies will brighten your day…"

  1. brad says:

    Well crap.  Who knew that one of the major components of our ammo, civilian and military both, came mostly from Russia and China ?

    That seems…suboptimal. You would think that the military would insist on domestic – or at least allied – suppliers for something so basic.

    Doctorow is a huge Prog… One on one, Doctorow is an incredibly nice guy.

    I think those two things are related. Lots of the left-leaning people I know are really nice. And they believe that everyone else is also really nice. Which is why illegal migrants should be welcomed. And why we don’t need money. And everything will be rainbows and unicorn farts.

    Unfortunately, reality is uglier than they are willing to admit.

    Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is being accused of ‘treason’ and calls to be removed from Congress as she faces fierce opposition for a speech where she unapologetically declared she is ‘Somalia first.’

    Maybe not treason, but she should certainly be removed from Congress. Is there such a thing as a recall election for members of Congress? Or impeachment?

  2. Nick Flandrey says:

    D1 was up early to make the team bus to a sporting event.  D2 is sleeping late because she has an orthodontist appointment.   I however am up for both…

    Chilly and clearing this am.

    Stuff to do.

    n

  3. Greg Norton says:

    Maybe not treason, but she should certainly be removed from Congress. Is there such a thing as a recall election for members of Congress? Or impeachment?

    Yes, the Republican majority is very thin right now in part because George Soros was expelled in December.

    No one would ever suggest such a thing with the members of The Squad, however, even if they were convicted of serious crimes, which Santos has not been to date. 

    Too many people want to get their strange on with the women in The Squad, which has been the core of their political power since first elected to office.

  4. Greg Norton says:

    Mayor Pencil Neck?

    That would be a profound political statement right now. Comedy hasn’t done that in decades, at least since the annointing of the last Jesus President.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpOBXh02rVc

    “Yeah …”

    I want to believe.

  5. SteveF says:

    Lots of the left-leaning people I know are really nice

    until you say something they don’t like, or don’t agree with them, or …

    Is there such a thing as a recall election for members of Congress? Or impeachment?

    Congresscretins can be expelled, for any reason or none at all. It seldom happens. In our lifetimes, two Democrat representatives have been expelled, following court convictions for felonies, and one Republican representative has been expelled, for campaign finance shadiness which never went to trial.

    This is rather similar to impeachments of Presidents and federal judges: In our lifetimes, the House has impeached a handful of judges and two Presidents, one of them twice. Except for Bill Clinton, all of the impeachees were Republicans.

    Just as it has been noted that Conservatives don’t conserve much of anything, Republicans show little to no dedication to the ideals of the Republic.

  6. lpdbw says:

    environmentalism is an ersatz for religion.

    FIFY.

    When I was young, the United States was a filthy place, with lots of pollution in the air, water, and land.  There was a real need to clean it up.

    And we did.  Do you hear much these days about great lakes catching fire or acid rain?

    But the movement is never satisfied, so we ended up exporting all our dirty industries, which was far cheaper than meeting unrealistic and unnecessary new standards.

    Environmentalists  (let’s just call them “Mentals”) won’t be happy until we’re freezing in the dark eating bugs, and most of us are dead.

  7. Greg Norton says:

    Just as it has been noted that Conservatives don’t conserve much of anything, Republicans show little to no dedication to the ideals of the Republic.

    What’s this about the current state “leadership” in Austin?

    Oh, that’s right. Many of you think Abbott means it.

    And don’t get too excited about Dan Patrick. He was the Geico Gecko’s point man on getting the generator slush fund passed.

  8. MrAtoz says:

    Another day, and our Corpse-POTUS does nothing about the loss of our troops to terrorism. I guess there are too many chickens on the committee. There is a rumor that plugs might not even go to Dover to receive the fallen. I doubt he will miss that, too many political points to miss. 

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  9. Nightraker says:

    That explains it:

    https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_qPrsU9Oux-qwqNenvF5nZjMIYMbFBYDZeXYj1HW7RdT6mJ4OSQ7-lunQ8kQjXtWIwhV9FAJFPwDmNooMCHoc3tOKrnd0F2j4gXqN_BQ2k8m1JMgzGO24dD5Z3O__QGWQQRlO8V_HmtHDnM2Z4thVNpXAKcMc8Cdu_AOf_mUK2QR1OHSBr4ewhy3Be9-/s960/901.jpeg

    Nice Leftists:  Prosperity is fundamental to these folks.  HVAC, automatic transmissions, flush toilets are simply a given of existence. They simply can’t imagine any other way. “Wouldn’t it be nice if…”  reflects an EMOTIONAL premise that no fact, number or reality can shake.  This, dare I say it, FEMALE viewpoint explains a great deal of the madness of today.

    I went to a home show awhile back where the preface to the brochure began with “Now that we all have 3 car garages and hot tubs, what else can we do to our houses?”  I’m sure the lady who wrote that is very nice.  I had a girlfriend who missed the entire idea of fractions, decimals and percentages from an early age.  She knew that a 20% discount was better than 10%, but she couldn’t tell you what the final price would be.  This kind of innumeracy led to unshakeable positions on issues of the day that were ridiculous. 

    Never should have given them the vote is MY magical thought. 🙂

  10. MrAtoz says:

    Off to Disney World today for 5 nights.

  11. Greg Norton says:

    Off to Disney World today for 5 nights.

    If you are up for the insanity, Megacon Orlando is this weekend.

    I took the city bus from Disney Springs to the convention center last year. That alone was interesting people watching.

    The city bus stops at the Portillos and White Castle site along the route.

  12. SteveF says:

    But the movement is never satisfied, so we ended up exporting all our dirty industries, which was far cheaper than meeting unrealistic and unnecessary new standards.

    Of course the movement’s leadership will never be satisfied. If the environmental problems are all solved, donations will dry up, and then how will their salaries be paid?

    See also: NAACP, feminist organizations

  13. Ray Thompson says:

    When I was young, the United States was a filthy place, with lots of pollution in the air, water, and land.

    Yes, I remember flying into LA CA in the early ‘70’s. A brown cesspool in the air hanging over the basin. One time my dad and I went flying in a cheap plane, minimal instruments. We had to return because we could not maintain VFR. 

  14. Nick Flandrey says:

    too many political points to miss.  

    – and an opportunity to mention his dead son.   

    n

  15. CowboyStu says:

    WRT “chickens and eggs….”:  “two eggs up on…”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGixjq3Ph1w

  16. Greg Norton says:

    too many political points to miss.  

    – and an opportunity to mention his dead son.   

    Who died in Iraq.

    Acutally, Beau spent his time in Iraq running the DE Attorney General’s office and exploring a Senate campaign for Corn Pop’s old seat while sequestered in a bunker in the Green Zone.

  17. Brad says:

    See also: NAACP, feminist organizations

    The latest crazy from feminist organizations here. They want equal rights. Equal pay. All good.

    Now, they also want 2-3 days of paid “period vacation” each month. Seriously.

  18. SteveF says:

    Equality means equality in everything. They don’t get to pick and choose which aspects they get as equality and which they get as special privileges.

    Of course, using logic, facts, and fairness with a feminist is pointless.

  19. Ray Thompson says:

    The stupidity of our (the U.S.) government and free (to the recipient) programs is astounding. Most a complete waste.

    It seems that I qualify for a free tablet, with cellular, at no cost to me. It is being shipped. I went to the website and checked out of curiosity and whaddayaknow. They are shipping me a free (to me) tablet. With cellular data. I qualify because I receive VA benefits. No other criteria.

    I thought the email about the shipment was spam, fishing fraud. Nope, legitimate. FedEx shipping and is valid on the FedEx website.

    What I will do with the table I have no idea. I certainly don’t need it, really don’t want it.

  20. SteveF says:

    Ray, check the tablet for spyware, automatic ad delivery, and such, if you can. If you can’t, see if you can loan the tablet to someone who can. If you find anything that the recipients of the “free” tablet should know about, spread the word.

  21. paul says:

    Now, they also want 2-3 days of paid “period vacation” each month.

    If everyone gets the 2-3 days a month, ok. Take your three days before the weekend and have 5 days off.  Work in a holiday when you can. 

    Extra bonus if you can carry over and accrue your 3 days. 

  22. Ray Thompson says:

    heck the tablet for spyware, automatic ad delivery, and such, if you can

    I don’t think that is going to be a problem. I have experienced this before. The tablet will obviously be running some version of Android, several releases behind. The screen will be one of the lower resolutions. In other words, a crappy device.

    My aunt was able to qualify for a free cell phone with 100 minutes a month. No cost to her. It was legitimate. She was in a nursing home, unable to do anything except eat and crap, but she got a cell phone. We gave it to my mother-in-law so she would have something when she was driving in case of problems.

    This tablet borders on the same. People with low income, on SSDI, Medicaid, or alow-incomeome program are apparently entitled to a free tablet with cellular connectivity. VA disability benefits also qualify. Technically the website states “VA Pension” which I guess is the same as VA benefits.

    I am certain the company providing the service wants to get as many delivered as possible. They probably pay $100 or less for the tablet and the government reimburses them $300.00. Monthly service is probably only costing $10.00 per device with the government reimbursing at $40.00 a minute.

  23. Greg Norton says:

    The latest crazy from feminist organizations here. They want equal rights. Equal pay. All good.

    Now, they also want 2-3 days of paid “period vacation” each month. Seriously.

    The hip companies in Austin offer “unlimited” vacation. Of course, it won’t be “unlimited” for some demographics.

    The company where I currently work doesn’t offer that “benefit”, but the tolling company adopted the practice after I left.

  24. Ray Thompson says:

    Take your three days before the weekend and have 5 days off

    Three days the week after Thanksgiving. Most places give Friday off. The person could get a whole seven days of not showing up for work. I would have said “not working” but most people of that whining category do not do much work anyway.

  25. brad says:

    If everyone gets the 2-3 days a month, ok.

    Yeah, no. That’s not what they would want. The stupid thing is: sick leave here is basically unlimited. If a woman genuinely has severe cramping, she can get a doctor’s note and stay home. Of course, the mainstream feminists are also against the initiative (coming up for a vote in a year or so) that would require women to have the military/civil service requirement as men.

  26. SteveF says:

    The hip companies in Austin offer “unlimited” vacation.

    Which works out really well when the employee leaves because the company doesn’t have to pay out unused vacation time. I think that there’s an effect on the company’s balance sheet, in not having to show accrued time off as a liability, but I’m not sure about that.

    Of course, it won’t be “unlimited” for some demographics.

    Yep. I was in the demographic which produced useful work. In theory I could take time off when I wanted it (or needed it because I was sick, except that I don’t get sick) but in practice there was always a crushing backlog of work on my plate. I ended up needing to do large parts of the job for several other people because they were unable or unwilling to do their own jobs … but almost all of them were women and almost all of them were non-White, so pointing out non-performance accomplished nothing except for my immediate boss to caution me to cool it. These non-performing “work”ers, by the way, sure spent a lot of time on vacation or sick or being unable to work because of sick kids (even though they were working remotely and probably could have gotten at least a little done if they’d been inclined) or needing a mental health day.

  27. RickH says:

    …. Cue the conspiracy theorists, who will not read the details that this process (Alzhiemers via Human Growth Hormone injections) was stopped in the 1960’s, and assume that this is still happening as part of a global conspiracy from the New World Order and similar bogus organizations….

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  28. SteveF says:

    Rick, the injections are not needed anymore. The HGH is administered via contrails – I mean chemtrails – and via flouride in the drinking water. Oh, and they’re activated by cell towers and high-voltage power lines.

  29. Alan says:

    >> Yes, the Republican majority is very thin right now in part because George Soros was expelled in December.

    @Greg, I’m sure you have a good excuse…

  30. Alan says:

    >> Rick, the injections are not needed anymore. The HGH is administered via contrails – I mean chemtrails – and via flouride in the drinking water. Oh, and they’re activated by cell towers and high-voltage power lines.

    In case @nick hasn’t reminded us lately, make sure you’ve stacked plenty of tin foil 🙂

  31. Lynn says:

    Well crap.  Who knew that one of the major components of our ammo, civilian and military both, came mostly from Russia and China ?

    That seems…suboptimal. You would think that the military would insist on domestic – or at least allied – suppliers for something so basic.

    The military is too busy adjusting their skirts and hose now.

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  32. Greg Norton says:

    >> Yes, the Republican majority is very thin right now in part because George Soros was expelled in December.

    @Greg, I’m sure you have a good excuse…

    Wow. I pulled up a web page before I typed it to make sure I got “Santos” correct.

    I was posting from my phone. I don’t even browse here with my work laptop.

  33. Brad says:

    And my sister-in-law thinks she is allergic to WLAN. She’s also into Demeter, which is astrology (and other superstitions) applied to food crops. For example, you can trap bad auras by burying cow horns filled with cow patties or quartz in specific positions.

    Super nice person. Way, way left. I avoid any topic of conversation that might lead to conflict, which leaves…not much.

  34. Geoff Powell says:

    @stevef:

    flouride in the drinking water.

    that’s “fluoride”. I’m pretty sure flouride doesn’t exist.

    activated by cell towers 

    particularly 5G cell towers.

    Nonsense, of course.

    G.

  35. Bob Sprowl says:

    I went to the VA web site, the tablet is a ipad.  No android option.  I probably don’t qualify; I have a disability rating of 0% despite several issuses (hearing, lungs, knee).

  36. SteveF says:

    > @Greg, I’m sure you have a good excuse…

    Wow. I pulled up a web page before I typed it to make sure I got “Santos” correct.

    I was posting from my phone. I don’t even browse here with my work laptop.

    Ahem. I’m sure you mean

    No, I didn’t. Honest… I ran out of gas. I… I had a flat tire. I didn’t have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn’t come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts. It wasn’t my fault. I swear to god!

    that’s “fluoride”. I’m pretty sure flouride doesn’t exist.

    Noted, and I knew that. And I’m sure that you know that you’re opening yourself up for pointing and laughter next time you make a typo.

  37. Geoff Powell says:

    @brad:

    sister-in-law thinks she is allergic to WLAN

    Does her computer connect via wifi? Or is it plugged in via ethernet? What about her mobile phone (if she has one)? A true allergy (or even putative “electrosensitivity”) should leave her unable to use computers/phones.

    Or haven’t you asked, for reasons of domestic tranquility?

    G.

  38. EdH says:

    I went to the VA web site, the tablet is a ipad.

    Those are nice.  Reset to Factory Default & Bobs your uncle.

    Keep as a streaming radio, donate as a prize for charity, or to a deserving student, sell for cash.

  39. Geoff Powell says:

    @stevef:

    And I’m sure that you know that you’re opening yourself up for pointing and laughter next time you make a typo.

    But… homonyms! But I take your point.

    That said, I have to watch out for that, since the keyboard on this Dell laptop is getting very flaky. It doesn’t register some keys, or gives double characters, unpredictably.

    G.

  40. Brad says:

    Or haven’t you asked, for reasons of domestic tranquility?

    I don’t ask. And I don’t turn off the WLAN in our house. She hasn’t collapsed yet :-/

  41. Ray Thompson says:

    I went to the VA web site, the tablet is a ipad

    The one I am getting is not through the VA.

    Do you have a link for the VA iPad?

  42. Nightraker says:

    Drones in combat.  Yikes!

    https://youtu.be/rYnEOlCPRyo

  43. paul says:

    Big River is annoying.  I ordered this:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BGQ5SCVW?tag=ttgnet-20/ on the 10th.

    A sampler, if you will.  Delivery keeps sliding into the future.  Now Feb. 16.

    I can order a six pack of each flavor from the same seller right now and have all three delivered this coming Sunday.

    Big River’s chat is slow.  mIRC on a 14.4 modem was much more responsive.    So the options presented were “cancel and get a $5 credit” or “do nothing”.  

    I’m going to wait.  I ordered the stuff with something else to get free shipping on the order..  Uh, almost $15 worth of shipping. 

  44. SteveF says:

    She hasn’t collapsed yet

    A pity, though I’ll admit that the paperwork and interviews get tiresome.

  45. SteveF says:

    Only two eggs today, none from the “egg layer” breed. I can’t fault them. The three of them pooped out seventeen eggs in the preceding seven days, so they’ve earned a day off.

    We got (an alleged) eight inches of snow Sunday afternoon and night, followed by temperature warm enough to soften, half-melt, and compact it. I cleared the driveway and side stairs and sidewalks (along the side of the house and from the driveway to the front door; none along the street) and part of the patio, so all of the house’s doors are clear in case of emergency and so that I can get to the shed out back. This is fine for people, but the chickens are disgruntled. Very little room to walk around and poop on everything (compared to the entire yard, garden and forest) and no grass or dirt or yummy bugs. Unacceptable! So every time I let them out, they run out, look at the snow, mill around in confusion, then go up the stairs to the driveway, then mill around some more. And they poop all over everything. It’s unbelievable how many little piles of poop six hens can leave in twenty minutes. I never really noticed before because they didn’t spend much time on the stones or asphalt.

    I put nets up on our fruit trees to keep the stinkin’ antlered forest rats from eating the buds. The nets may have done some good, as I saw hoofprints (and piles of deer pellets) around the trees but didn’t see nibbled twigs. So far, so good. Unfortunately, Sunday’s snow was so heavy (in the dense sense, not in the absolute amount) and wet that it hung up in the netting, bent a number of branches down, broke at least one sizable branch, and broke a number of smaller branches. I shook the snow loose and set the trees right as best I could. Not sure if I should put the nets back up. I’m thinking not, because we can expect at least one more heavy snowfall, probably more. Maybe I can rig up some poles that I can hang the nets from to make a fence to protect the entire strip of trees, and the net can just fall down or pull the poles down if we get heavy snow. It’ll be a maintenance nuisance because we get so much wind; I’m sure I’d be setting something back up several times per week at least. Bah. Stupid antlered forest rats, causing me extra work.

  46. Alan says:

    >> Super nice person. Way, way left. I avoid any topic of conversation that might lead to conflict, which leaves…not much.

    “Huh, sure did get some rain last night…” 

    followed by 

    “Hmm, looks like the Dodgers might make the playoffs this year…” 

  47. Nick Flandrey says:

    “Huh, sure did get some rain last night…”  

    – what do you expect when AGW is baking Mother Ghia?  Capitalism and mechanized farming are poisoning the planet.  Sea level rise when the poles melt will make the whole thing moot anyway…

    followed by 

    “Hmm, looks like the Dodgers might make the playoffs this year…” 

    Unbelievable what the masses spend on patriarchal dominance games and “rooster strutting”.  If all that money was spent on starving children in africa/haiti/ireland the world would be a better place…

    -=

    —-

    There is NO safe topic when the rot gets deep.

    n

  48. Nick Flandrey says:

    So we know what causes Alzheimers?   When did that happen?

    n

  49. SteveF says:

    There is NO safe topic when the rot gets deep.

    Exactly. That’s why it’s better to go on the offense rather than try to play defense with endlessly shifting rules.

    “Oh, baby, you’re one hot mama. How ‘bout I bend you over the couch right now while my wife finishes supper? Don’t worry, she already gave me a hunting license when it comes to you.”

    If you’re lucky, the sister-in-law will die of shock right there. Problem solved.

    If you’re unlucky, she’ll pull you over to the couch.

  50. SteveF says:

    So we know what causes Alzheimers?   When did that happen?

    They thought that it was the amyloid plaque but recently questions have been raised about the study(s). I don’t know the current state of the science for Alzheimer’s or dementia.

  51. Bob Sprowl says:

    RE VA ipad: I just searched for VA touch pad in duckduckgo.

  52. Ray Thompson says:

    RE VA ipad: I just searched for VA touch pad in duckduckgo.

    I did basically the same search. All I have found is dealing with telehealth and the person must ask their VA health provider for the tablet. I did not find any information on the device being an iPad. There is an iPad app.

  53. Ray Thompson says:

    Here’s what I found:

    OK, good find. My searches elsewhere indicated a tablet, not a specific iPad. A lot of clueless reporters state iPad when tablet is the correct term. I find it hard to believe a $500.00 iPad would be chosen when a $120.00 tablet would suffice. However, this is the government, the VA, who sent a chap round-trip from Nashville to deliver an ice machine for my knee and that is all he did for the day. UPS would have been a better option.

  54. EdH says:

    Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA): “The Donald Trump and MAGA plan for the border: Alligator moats, bombing northern Mexico, shooting migrants in the legs, and electrifying the fence and putting spikes on them.”

    Honestly, he had me at Alligators.

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  55. Lynn says:

    Honestly, he had me at Alligators.

    You and me both, bro !

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  56. Alan says:

    What, no piranhas? 

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  57. drwilliams says:

    Biden Administration Dials Way Back on Its Gas Stove Crackdown

    The Energy Department said 97 percent of gas stoves and 77 percent of electric stoves on the market already meet the requirements it is proposing. This is down from the 50 percent impacted by the last year ‘s proposed rule.

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2024/01/biden-administration-dials-way-back-on-its-gas-stove-crackdown/

    No just no but F*** No.

    We don’t need a Stove Czar making $200k and presiding over another staff of pencil-neck greenies.

    We need an Oven Czar to round up the green weinies and put them in ovens.

    Flaming hypocrites probably consume more resources on their freaking lattes than the average family uses to run the kitchen appliances that feed them.

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  58. drwilliams says:

    “Always a distraction when Tony needs one…”

    Musk: “Well if I’m not getting paid I guess I’m going on a vacation while the judge runs the company.”

    pop the corn

  59. Nick Flandrey says:

    Activist shareholder thinks there is a company outside of Musk, without Musk.  I think he’s wrong.  It’s RL Tony driving the bus, making it happen.   Activist shareholder should invest elsewhere if he doesn’t like it.

    n

  60. Alan says:

    >> Activist shareholder thinks there is a company outside of Musk, without Musk.  I think he’s wrong.  It’s RL Tony driving the bus, making it happen.   Activist shareholder should invest elsewhere if he doesn’t like it.

    IIRC (@Greg knows more than I) there’s a strong #2 at SpaceX. Not sure about any of the other companies. IAC, @nick’s on the right path.

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