Podcasts about Styrofoam

AI can write website copy that outperforms 80% of what is online today. You just have to teach it who it is writing for. In this episode of Intended Consequences, Conversion Sciences founder Brian Massey shows you how to use AI to generate website copy that actually converts. The secret is not a better prompt. It is writing for the four ways people make buying decisions. You will learn the Modes of Research framework, first published in "Waiting for Your Cat to Bark," and how to map it onto Myers-Briggs types so any language model speaks your language. Then you will watch live rewrites that turn flat, jargon-filled copy into messaging built for Competitive, Methodical, Spontaneous, and Humanist visitors. By the end you can build your own AI messaging agent in ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini and let it do the rewriting for you. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN Why most B2B copy sounds the same and caps your conversion rate The four research modes and the buyer behind each one How to use Myers-Briggs as a shared vocabulary with any AI The simple prompt that teaches your chatbot to rewrite by mode How to generate personas straight from a URL How to A/B test copy that is finally different enough to win How to build a reusable AI messaging agent for your brand CHAPTERS 00:00 Why AI copy beats 80% of website copy 01:30 Styrofoam copy and the conversion ceiling 02:40 How our own biases sabotage copywriting 04:10 ICPs and the four-persona problem 05:40 Corner cases: copy big enough to A/B test 06:00 The 4 Modes of Research framework 06:50 Competitive and Methodical buyers 08:00 Spontaneous and Humanist buyers 09:30 Placing copy on the page by buyer mode 10:30 Why language models beat humans at this 11:20 Myers-Briggs as a shared language with AI 14:00 The simple prompt to train your chatbot 15:00 Generating personas from a URL (Calm.com) 17:40 Rewriting copy for each mode, live 24:00 B2B example: HR services, CHRO vs CFO 29:50 Laying out multiple voices on one page 31:00 Q&A: getting your team to trust AI copy 33:20 Building your own AI messaging agent 38:00 What is next: ad and landing page alignment 38:50 Q&A: CTAs, ad frequency, and brand salience RESOURCES Messaging skills and full prompts: https://conversion.science/msg-skills Conversion Sciences: https://conversionsciences.com Book: "Waiting for Your Cat to Bark" by Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg: https://conversci.com/catbark Roy H. Williams and the Wizard Academy: https://www.wizardacademy.org Subscribe for more on conversion optimization, AI, and the experiments behind what actually works. #AICopywriting #ConversionOptimization #CRO

Food Travel USA with Elizabeth DoughertyAlbum: The TRUTH About Food and Travel 060826 Original Broadcast Date: 06/08/26 It was a week in the air that was hard to believe and impossible to ignore. Start with the near collision over Fort Lauderdale. A JetBlue flight on final approach nearly hit a small Beechcraft 76 from a flight school that was flying erratically and had gone completely silent on air traffic control. The JetBlue crew received a TCAS collision alert and climbed hard to avoid it. The two aircraft came within 500 feet of each other. The air traffic controller's on the record assessment of the other pilot: "That guy's insane." The pilot's response: "I agree." The FAA is investigating. Then there's the story that should have been front page news everywhere. Two NIH researchers were arrested at Detroit Metro Airport after allegedly smuggling 113 vials of monkeypox virus into the United States from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, where an active outbreak was underway, packed in Styrofoam coolers inside a large black case on a commercial Delta flight. They told Customs it was diagnostic equipment. It was not. The U.S. Attorney said it plainly: "Let that sink in." And in the background of all of it, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is threatening to pull Customs and Border Protection officers from airports in sanctuary cities, a move that would effectively shut down international travel at LAX, O'Hare, SFO, and six other major hubs. Elizabeth has the reaction and the details. FOOD TRAVEL USA FAST FACTS About the Show Using the chassis of a food and travel show, Elizabeth Dougherty has carved out her own lane in Talk Radio, covering the contamination of the food supply and the travel restrictions placed upon us by an overreaching government. The show also covers data protection, self-sufficiency, and homesteading-related topics to help protect us from this evil, corrupt system. With Elizabeth as the host, the show has a very different sound from the typical male-oriented talk radio. In combination with terrestrial stations that carry the show, we reach people who don't normally listen to politically-driven talk radio. In addition to the LIVE FEED of the show on Saturday afternoons from 5pm–7pm (Eastern) / 2pm–4pm (Pacific), we produce and distribute a dozen podcast segments each week. Website & Social Media Website: FoodTravelUSA.com Social Media: Facebook | X (formerly Twitter) | Truth Social | YouTube Broadcast Details New episodes:  Monday 9am (ET) 6am (PT) Listen Anytime Production Team Email Elizabeth: FoodTravelUSA@proton.me Executive Producer: Michael Serio Why Listeners Tune In ✔ The latest food & travel insights—every week ✔ Homemade videos of healthy, easy-to-make recipes ✔ No-holds-barred interviews on a LIVE, fast-paced, nationwide call-in show ✔ Elizabeth Dougherty: Writer, trained chef, world traveler, and award-winning talk show host ✔ First to bring expert insights on GMOs ✔ A true LIVE SHOW—NO "Best Of" reruns! ✔ Hard-hitting topics & interviews—no recycled political spin ✔ Engaged social media presence—200,000+ followers

At this point in the second Trump administration Fox News has become the parent of a spoiled child sitting in the principal's office of an expensive private school insisting their kid did absolutely nothing wrong.The defiant parent stares back in scorn at an underpaid and overworked school administrator explaining. while sipping instant Maxwell House from a Styrofoam cup, how little Donny set fire to another teacher's desk then faked an asthma attack to get out of detention. At the emergency room he threatened to fight the triage nurse after she determined his breathing was perfectly normal.President Donald J. Trump is the bratty monster who was never told no or given a boundary. As prices increase across the country and his poll numbers drop Fox News cannot face reality - the network helped raise this destructive beast.The pathological narcissist that they propped up and worshipped, and paid hundreds of millions in a defamation lawsuit to cover for has turned out to be a mad wannabe king hellbent on enriching himself and sticking his name and image on everything near him.As the president repeatedly makes false claims about the war with Iran the network dutifully repeats them only to correct itself hours later. The corporate heads as Fox News don't seem to care as long as their ratings remain high and the profits keep rolling in.Little Donny might even burn his family's McMansion to the ground before he's finished. Hopefully we won't all be burned to cinders along with him.Rupert Murdoch must be happy to have a lower tax rate.Last week the network also heavily promoted stories surrounding the criminal indictment issued against the SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center). While the PBS News Hour dedicated slightly over one minute to the story it was the third most talked about topic on Fox News last week taking up 11% of the airtime on the shows I covered. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 287- It’s Time to Red Flag, Red Flag Also Available OnSearchable Podcast Transcript Gun Lawyer — Episode Transcript Gun Lawyer Transcript – Episode 287 SUMMARY KEYWORDS Gun rights, Virginia gerrymandering, red flag laws, due process, gun confiscation, Mel Brooks, Spaceballs, New Jersey gun laws, universal background checks, defensive weapons, Second Amendment, Trump re-annexation, social media, gun owner faux pas, civil liberties. SPEAKERS Teddy Nappen, Speaker 3, Evan Nappen Evan Nappen  00:15 I’m Evan Nappen. Teddy Nappen  00:17 and I’m Teddy Nappen. Evan Nappen  00:18 And welcome to Gun Lawyer. So, Teddy, we were talking today, and you had some interesting things to discuss. What did you have? What did you have in mind, buddy? Teddy Nappen  00:31 Well, aside from watching the new “Space Balls” trailer, which, you know, I’m looking forward to it. But it’s never going to be, better. Evan Nappen  00:40 I love Mel Brooks. Teddy Nappen  00:42 That’s the other thing, too. I will give them credit in the trailer, because then he said we unfortunately had to change the name of the trailer. It’s not “Space Balls 2: The Search for Money” because he found money. It was literally just a bag of money that said “Space Balls”. Evan Nappen  00:59 Well, and Mel Brooks is in his 90s, man. But he’s still. Teddy Nappen  01:03 Correct. Oh, wait, I think he, I think he is like 99 like, something crazy. Evan Nappen  01:07 He’s close. I guess that’s what happened when you were married to Bancroft. I guess. You live long. Teddy Nappen  01:15 Oh, yeah, she was Mrs. Robinson? Evan Nappen  01:17 Yeah. Teddy Nappen  01:17 I guess that’s how it kept them alive. Aside from scrolling through. Evan Nappen  01:24 Well, actually, he’s trying to be the world’s oldest man. Wasn’t that his? The other thing that used to do? Teddy Nappen  01:29 Well, that was the, that was the 10,000 year old man. Evan Nappen  01:32 Right. I guess he’s trying to actually be it. I don’t know. Teddy Nappen  01:35 Yeah, and I like to stand up where it was. I think he was like, 10,000 year old man. He’s like, 0h, did you try polygamy? He’s like, yeah. And what do you, what do you think about it? Well, to be honest, I always get out voted. That’s a horrible idea. Horrible. Evan Nappen  01:58 Right! Teddy Nappen  01:58 But anyways, I saw you. You’ve been seeing what’s going on Virginia, aside from the stupid gerrymandering that they’re doing. Evan Nappen  02:07 Well, this is bad for gun rights, because Teddy Nappen  02:09 Their gun rights is the worst. Evan Nappen  02:10 Because if they take the House by gerrymandering Virginia to flip the House to the party of evil, you know, the Democrats there, we’re gonna have our hands full again. Teddy Nappen  02:25 Yeah, other than the record gun sales now, because people were paranoid thinking that Virginia was going to start going door to door to take their guns, just because of how poorly the bills were written. To the point where the Virginia State Police comes out and, you know, the Superintendent Jeffrey Katz, Spanberger’s pick to lead the State Police goes on and says, there is no legislative proposal seeking to do this. (https://wset.com/news/local/not-now-not-ever-virginia-state-police-dispel-rumor-of-law-leading-to-gun-confiscation-firarm-control-abigail-spanberger-gun-control-bill-april-2026) There will be no. The Virginia State Police work every day to enhance public safety and protect civil liberties. Those liberties not granted by Government and will not be impeded by Government. Cut to all the laws that they just passed. (https://crimeresearch.org/2026/04/virginias-long-list-of-new-gun-control-laws/) Not now, not ever. Activity of this nature, by its very nature, is un-American. Huh? Let’s and then cutting to all the bills of Universal Background Check, Safe Home Storage, the Assault Weapon ban, Red Flag, Ghost Gun ban. You know, everything else that is impeding our rights. Evan Nappen  03:32 Right! Well, the thing is, they have, there’s a history of going door to door in the history of gun control itself, which is what we’ve always talked about with the four key words. Beginning with Legislation and then leads to Registration, and then that leads to Confiscation, which leads to Extermination. And every major Holocaust has been preceded by those four words. And Virginia, you know, would get on the pathway of confiscation and them saying, oh, you know, we won’t go door to door. But of course, they will go door to door, and they’re liars. I mean, if you want to see their lies, just look at their Governor, who is the epitome of lying. I mean, that’s what she did to get into office. Teddy Nappen  04:25 She called herself moderate. Evan Nappen  04:26 She misrepresented herself, and then is doing this. So, they’re all about lies. And in America, we’ve had attempts at going door to door. New York did it, New York City, because they have registration of long arms. So, they actually, at a point, attempted confiscations. And folks may not know this, but New Jersey was going to do that. After the assault firearm law passed in 1990, there was an attempt, by way of the Administrative Code, to change what had been New Jersey’s procedures regarding Certificate of Eligibility. So, in those days, you could do a private sale. Private sales were allowed. And this is why having so-called Universal Background Checks is really just a gateway to the registration / confiscation scheme. Because back then in New Jersey, you could have private sales for long arms by doing a Certificate of Eligibility, and the Certificate of Eligibility was simply kept by the seller. As a matter of fact, with the old Certificate of Eligibility, the buyer didn’t even get a copy. The new Certificate of Eligibility that came after that, the buyer and the seller got a copy. But with the old one, only the seller got the copy when a long arm was sold. And it got filed nowhere. There was no requirement that it be filed with the Government. Evan Nappen  06:02 They tried to promulgate, through the code, a rule that said Certificates of Eligibility had to be filed with the State Police. That was not in the law. The reason they wanted that was because they needed to connect the chain so they could go door to door, confiscating so-called “assault firearms”, which were long arms, rifles and shotguns, and to force on private sales the revealing of the information as to who they got transferred to by claiming that there was a failure to file the certificate of eligibility. And I personally, when I was working at the time for the Coalition of New Jersey Sportsmen, and we were fighting the assault farm ban, I opposed in the rulemaking process. I sent a whole piece in fighting and opposing that rule change. That it was not based on the law, that they were going beyond the Administrative Procedures Act in trying to promulgate this, and I succeeded in stopping them from doing it, which broke that link in the chain for them to continue with their confiscation scheme that they wanted to do back then. So, I saw it firsthand and was able to stop it. Teddy Nappen  07:24 Imagine if you weren’t, you weren’t there, Dad. If you were in some other state or some other spot, and that had gone through. My G-d. Just that would have been. The only thing I could think of, is just bullets first at that point, like. Evan Nappen  07:37 It would have been a radically different scenario, because they were on a path of wanting and considering it. And we knew this for a fact. They were actually going to try to implement the door to door confiscation and searching down every assault farm they could find. But that didn’t happen. And the other thing that didn’t happen, interestingly, is they were supposed to put forward guns they wanted to add to the list. That’s actually in the law. They have never done that, although they still could, but they never did that. Teddy Nappen  08:16 Mass does that. Evan Nappen  08:17 Yeah. Mass does it there. Jersey has it in the law to do it. But they never did it in New Jersey, weirdly and oddly, but they could. Teddy Nappen  08:25 Who was it? The firearms bureau that was the Mass attorney? He was the one that worked for the Bureau. And then. Evan Nappen  08:33 Yeah, Jason. Teddy Nappen  08:35 Jason. And then he saw the dark side of what they were doing, and then came back and started fighting the good fight. But my G-d. Just imagine those meetings where, like, all right, what are we going to ban today? Like it’s the arbiters of truth. Like, just decide. Evan Nappen  08:50 Yeah. They purposely, in Mass, purposely had a meeting to try to figure out how to make it as difficult as possible to get licenses, particularly for non-residents. They focused on what to do. And I’ll tell you, even to this day, that was the worst carry license application process I’ve experienced. And I’ve gotten carry licenses from everywhere you could get them. And it took, it took 14 months to get a Mass carry license, and it’s only good for 12 months. It took longer to get it than the license lasts for. It’s insane. We applied in January. They  force you to have a personal meeting, and they didn’t schedule the personal meeting for nine months after the application. Then it was another five months after that before they even issued it. And that personal meeting is utterly useless. All they do is ask you the very same questions that you’ve already certified on an application, and they fingerprint you there electronically, which could be done anywhere else. Evan Nappen  10:02 So, it’s all just a load of absolute garbage. Just to discourage. And this is what licensing laws are designed to do. They’re designed to discourage and stop. And you know, any of these courts that rationalize say, oh, it’s. Like with Maine now, reenacting their, letting the injunction lapse so that they have a three-day waiting period, even on long arms. Oh, that’s just a small burden. Oh, it’s a small burden. You know, what are you an inconvenience? I mean, no, this, this is our rights. Teddy Nappen  10:38 Well, they don’t see it that way. Evan Nappen  10:39 This is intrusion in our rights. You know, how about before a news article gets published, you have to wait three days. It’s just a small burden. Just a three-day waiting period before you can exercise your First Amendment. How does that fly? Is that all right? Teddy Nappen  10:55 You have to do a background check before you post. Evan Nappen  10:59 Well, Virginia is really scary with what’s going on there. Especially, too, with the redistricting as they’re attempting to. Basically, you know, I mean, leave it to the Democrats. They always have to look for ways to cheat. So, this is their latest ploy. Teddy Nappen  11:15 They cheated heavily all over New England. They cheated all over New England. Have you ever seen the breakdown? Like, the entire New England is so gerrymandered, like the split is 56, like around 56/65 in a lot of these states in New England, and it’s all Blue representatives. How does that work for Congress, if not for gerrymandering? Evan Nappen  11:38 Well, there is a really interesting power move Trump could make in Virginia. You and I were talking about this. What Trump could do, if the redistricting cheat takes place, Trump could re-session Arlington and such. That area of land that was originally part of the District of Columbia. In 1847 that was given back, so to speak, unconstitutionally, by the way, to Virginia to keep slavery in place, essentially. It was an unconstitutional move. It was even recognized unconstitutional by President Taft, who also happened to be a Supreme Court Justice. He understood the law, and he said it was unconstitutional. It wasn’t challenged, but it was done. President Trump, by way of Executive Order, could re-secession and take Arlington and that area of land, where it’s all the Blue of the federal workers, the solid Blue, and put it in back where it belongs, into the District of Columbia. And therefore they would not have any representation in the House or in the Senate, and push it right back and literally make Virginia Red again. The way it used to be – a great state. So, that might be a power move by Trump, and he’d be better legally positioned than many of the crazy things Biden did with the auto pen. I mean, Trump has justification, constitutionally, to actually take that back and literally take away the Blue that is destroying Virginia. So, it’s something we might see happen. Teddy Nappen  13:33 It’s really almost like having a lot of Republicans who are willing to fight and have backbone. Like, I think it was in New Hampshire where Kelly Ayotte refused to redistrict, which you see clearly, it’s been gerrymandered  into the Dems favor. They’re not willing to. It’s just the weakness and so many of them that halt and stop. Like it’s amazing where Trump, the amount of foreign power that he can exert outside the country, but he’s just hamstrung so much in from everything and the weak Republicans like Thune, who I even called. Evan Nappen  14:09 Thune. It is true there. I mean, the problem is, Republicans need a backbone, not made a Styrofoam, a lot of them, and it’s really sad to see that the one thing you got to give the Democrats credit for is they stay together. They unite in their insanity. They do that. Teddy Nappen  14:33 They do it out of fear, though. It’s 90%. Evan Nappen  14:35 Right! Teddy Nappen  14:35 They’re all in lockstep, and it’s just fear. Evan Nappen  14:37 Well, yeah, unless you want to end up with like the hit on (Eric) Swalwell, Swalwell there that, you know, of course, was engineered by Pelosi, right? I mean, oh, he denies it. But. Teddy Nappen  14:42 Or you end up like Jeff Shapiro, you know, with them, fire bombing your home. Evan Nappen  14:53 Or you end up like Biden. You literally win the nomination, and then don’t run. And then they pick who they anoint for their candidate. You know, you know, like that. They’re pretty totalitarian as far as a party goes, aren’t they? Teddy Nappen  15:09 Yeah, it’s very, it’s very funny how much they rig their elections. But, uh, anyways, I will say the other article I did catch, which you know at this point now, you just gotta learn to laugh every time you read articles from our opposition. So, everyone’s favorite gun rights oppressionists, The Trace, decided to put out a new article. “This Law May Help Prevent Mass Shootings, but GOP-Led States Are Trying to Ban It.” (https://www.thetrace.org/2026/04/republican-states-ban-red-flag-erpo-laws/) Oh, wow. So, they are trying to justify red flag. They go down this whole tangent of trying to justify red flag, which everyone here knows, the damning no due process use that they try to push where there is just no due process. You are swatted, put through the system with no, little to no recourse. But don’t worry, The Trace has their answer, because they’ve been getting so much, you know, blow back for the arguments of Red Flag. Don’t worry, Dad. You know, they say there’s due process for Red Flag laws. Evan Nappen  16:15 Ha, ha. Okay! So, let’s just take New Jersey. I have worked New Jersey, and in New Jersey, Red Flag is called ERPOs, Extreme Risk Protection Orders. That is New Jersey’s version of so-called Red Flag. It begins with a TERPO, a Temporary Extreme Risk Protection Order, and then that can become a final permanent order called a FERPO, a Final Extreme Risk Protection Order. So, you have a TERPO. Yeah, well, they’re all known as ERPOs. The beginning document is a TERPO. It then can become a FERPO, and if it’s in Bergen County, it’s called a BERPO. I’m just kidding about calling it a Berpo. But it is really bad, because there’s no due process upfront at all, folks. Let that sink in – zero due process. Attention The Trace – zero due process! Evan Nappen  17:24 The TERPO, the document, the court order, that initiates the Red Flag. There is no due process in its issuance for the person who gets subjected to it. It is done ex parte. In other words, the gun owner has no idea it’s taking place. Somebody makes a claim, a wild claim, and that claim is taken at face value. A judge just hears the claim, issues the order, ordering the surrender of the person’s firearms, and then ordering the search and seizure of the person’s firearms. The privacy gets invaded. Your home gets searched. Your guns get taken. You’re hit with this order. And you had no idea that it was coming. You had no chance to say anything before it’s implemented. You’re hit with it, and only after being served and having your home and privacy raped by the Government and having your property taken by the Government, only after all that occurs, do you finally get a hearing. That hearing is to take place within 10 days. That’s called railroading. Now, 10 days after you’ve just been screwed over with zero due process, folks, you then have to fight to regain your rights. That is how New Jersey’s Red Flag system works. And if the TERPO becomes a FERPO, Not only are you disenfranchised of your Second Amendment rights, not only do you lose your guns, but you are put on an electronic database that declares you to be an extreme risk. That’s real helpful in employment and other things to be on that list, huh? Teddy Nappen  19:42 You also have to consider. Evan Nappen  19:44 And then it affects your ability. Wait. It affects your ability to even fly, because that’s put through to TSA databases as well. So, it is bad news with zero due process up front. And it is a nightmare. So, these laws need to pay. We need a federal law banning Red Flag. Red Flag is an egregious violation of our civil rights. Teddy Nappen  20:15 You also have to factor in the politically-appointed judges who are, you know, a political bias, who already hate gun owners, and then, you know, give them a free very, you’ve seen in the hearings. They’re very much like, oh, all this fate, it’s good to be the king and get to decide one’s fate. And hands and hands over. And every time someone like, oh, domestic violence, you know, “he threw pretzels at me”. Evan Nappen  20:41 Yeah! I actually had that case where that was the allegation. He threw pretzels at me. I mean, yeah, the level of allegation can be just de minimis, and they don’t care. It’s essentially harder to get, you know, a sandwich at Wawa than getting these gun confiscation orders done in the courts, They have created the pre-printed forms. They are always leaning toward taking guns and sorting it out after intruding on gun owners’ rights and privacy. That’s never a concern of any great detail, and this is constantly going on in New Jersey. The lame stream media will never cover it, folks, but I see it every day. Teddy Nappen  21:42 It also goes back, Dad. I remember the once case, I don’t remember when it was, but it was the husband and wife get into the argument. You know, they heard shout, a neighbor heard shouting, calls it in. The whole thing’s red flagged. The wife says, no, we were just having an argument. And then still they push for the Red Flag, even after everything else. They’re dragging them all through the system, where now the husband and wife are now united in that fight against the state. Evan Nappen  22:12 So, most of the time on this, on these DV restraining orders, I’d say about half the time, the person calling me is and often it’s the wife, calling me to save the husband. To save their marriage, to save their household. Because of the devastating impact of it. She had no idea that it would cause the effect of costing the husband his job, of blowing apart their relationship. It essentially is the embodiment of Reagan’s statement, “We’re here from the Government. We’re here to help.” It isn’t helping. It’s actually destroying the family, and it’s a giant wake up call. I’ve heard it so many times in the practice. The person that originally pulled the trigger cannot believe the impact, because that’s never, ever been explained to them. What will happen is never explained. And when they see it, it’s devastating, devastating to their family. Yep. Teddy Nappen  23:34 Yeah. But also, to go back to the article before I forget, their argument by The Trace. I love this. ERPO laws do have legal protections. The orders require approval from a judge, sworn evidence and a prompt court hearing. Isn’t that nice? People subject to the order receive notice. Evan Nappen  23:57 Oh, yeah, yeah. Teddy Nappen  23:59 They can contest the allegations. Evan Nappen  24:00 First of all, nothing’s up front in New Jersey. The so-called “sworn testimony”. I’ll tell you what. Of all the times I’ve done this. I mean, I’ve had hundreds of these cases. I’ve never had a single case where a person made statements that were false, where the ERPO was not issued, and that person was prosecuted for what they said. I don’t know of a single case. Never experienced it. Never experienced it. Teddy Nappen  24:31 This one is my favorite. Most laws also guarantee the return of firearms when the order has expired. How many guns cases do we have now where we are still waiting? Evan Nappen  24:40 Okay. There is no guarantee of return of firearms on the expiration of a TERPO or FERPO. As a matter of fact, when it’s issued, your guns are ordered forfeited. Okay. Tat’s how it works in New Jersey. There’s no, oh, we hold them till the orders over and you get them back. That’s not New Jersey’s law. That’s not it at all, folks. Non existent. These are lies. The typical liberal nonsense. Sell the lie, sell the lie. The reality is a whole other story. And we see it over and over again. That is The Trace. Just putting out what is not true in New Jersey. It’s not true. And they love to use New Jersey as a model for Red Flag laws. Model Red Flag laws. The worst of the worst, right? Worst of the worst. Teddy Nappen  25:44 Well, my favorite is the last bit, which is, many states punish those people who lie in their petitioners the process. Evan Nappen  25:52 Ha! Show me the person punished in New Jersey who lied on a Red Flag. Show me. Yeah, let me put it this way. The reason they don’t want to do it is they don’t want to discourage the lies. They don’t want to discourage people from doing Red Flags. So, they will not prosecute. The prosecution is within the discretion of the county prosecutors who have an agenda that is against the Second Amendment. They don’t want to discourage anyone from spouting any BS they want to spout because they want this to continue. They don’t want to discourage it. If they actually prosecuted somebody and made an example of them lying, it would discourage the abuse from taking place. They don’t want to do that. It’s against the interest of the agenda, the anti-Second Amendment agenda. So, that’s why we don’t see it happen, folks. We just don’t. Nope. Due process? That’s a joke when it comes to Red Flag. We need a national law to end Red Flag. We need to end it dead. No more Red Flag. It is one of the worst intrusions in our Second Amendment rights that has ever been contrived – just insane. Evan Nappen  27:07 Hey, Teddy, let me tell you about our buddies at WeShoot. WeShoot now has Civilian Shoot House Training. This is really cool! On April 25th – brand new at WeShoot. This is not a beginner class. This is where things start to feel real. That’s their new Civilian Shoot House Training. This is where you’ll learn how to move through spaces, clear rooms, and make decisions under pressure. You’ll learn room clearing fundamentals, shooting while moving, target ID under stress, use of light and positioning, working alone or as a team. It’s this kind of training that will help you to protect your home and not make, avoid making, a life-changing mistake. This training is great for homeowners, parents, Houses of Worship, security teams, armed guards and civilian groups. Anyone serious about real-world defense. Their top lineup of instructors that will be doing this is Jim Weinberg. Now Jim has got 30 years of experience in law enforcement. He’s former SWAT and UCERT operator and Police Academy instructor. Todd Friedman is a retired Detective Lieutenant, Special Operations Group Leader, with 500 tactical entries under his belt, over 500 actually. Scott Bonito is a 25-year veteran, former Lieutenant, tactical team leader, and a certified instructor across multiple disciplines. And Ryan Bonito is an Army combat veteran, 173rd Airborne, team leader, Master Breacher and CQB instructor. These are your phenomenal team of instructors. Bottom line is, shooting is one skill, and moving safely through your home is another. If you’re serious about protecting what matters, you want to look into this course and take it. Spots are limited, so check out WeShoot for this amazing shoot house training. Go to weshootusa.com, weshootusa.com. Check out their great range down in Lakewood, where Teddy and I both shoot. We got our training, got our Certifications. Great pro shop with a great group of folks down there. They’ll treat you like family. We love WeShoot, and you will, too. Go to weshootusa.com. Evan Nappen  29:57 Let me also mentioned the Bible of New Jersey gun law. That’s my book, and it is called, surprisingly, New Jersey Gun Law. You can get your copy at EvanNppen.com, EvanNappen.com. It’s 120 topics, all Question and Answer to help you not be a GOFU and to help you get through the insane matrix of New Jersey gun laws. Go to EvanNappen.com and get your copy today. Hey, Teddy. What else do you have up your sleeve for us, for me to get all excited about? I know you’ve got something. Teddy Nappen  30:33 Well, I think we need a good laugh from Babylon B. Now this is from “notthebee.com”, though. (https://notthebee.com/article/scottish-12-year-old-who-went-viral-with-axe-testifies-in-court-that-migrant-called-her-sexy-harassed-her?from_social=twitter) So they have to. Evan Nappen  30:41 Well, “not the bee” is their real stuff, which is cool, yeah. Teddy Nappen  30:45 Do you remember? Do you remember that Scottish girl who fought off the pedophile with the knife and AX? Evan Nappen  30:51 How dare she defend herself in Scotland. Teddy Nappen  30:54 I know, right? They dubbed her the “Sophie of Dundee”, which I appreciate that. I think it was the light, like the all the people trying to fight back against the mass migration. That is, you know, you know. You go from 12,000 rapes a year to 70,000 rapes a year and a massive cover up from the Government for grooming gangs. You know, things happen. But, apparently, she had to tell the court because, of course, you’ve got to prosecute the young. Evan Nappen  31:24 Always prosecute the victim. That’s their rule,  right? Throughout U.K. and Scotland, Australia, New Zealand. Prosecute the victim. Make sure no one ever wants to be a defender, right? Teddy Nappen  31:40 Yeah, of course, of course, you got to make sure to do that. Evan Nappen  31:43 So did they make any? Did they happen to say, I bet they have wonderful statements about what a horrible person she was, or whatever. What did they say? I’m sure they something. Teddy Nappen  31:54 Of course. First they dragged her through, trying to make a claim like saying, no, no, it wasn’t against a migrant. It was two white Europeans. Oh, yes. The two white Europeans – Ilia Belov and Nadjedzha Belov. Evan Nappen  32:15 You can’t pronounce their names. Well, so it wasn’t John Smith. Teddy Nappen  32:21 No, no. It was not. Evan Nappen  32:23 No, no, no, but, yeah. But did they have bad teeth? Oh, no, that would be England. Teddy Nappen  32:30 Okay, I know. So, it’s so ridiculous on that end. Then they try to deem like she was alt-right extremist. Evan Nappen  32:39 OH, an alt-right extremist. That’s why she had the nerve to even defend herself, I guess. Huh? Teddy Nappen  32:45 Of course, having the right to defend yourself and suggested that probably having a good reason to carry weapons for herself to protect herself. You know, when the Third World invade your country, and was proven right when two migrant were arrested in connection to the incident. The 13 year old said, the man repeatedly said to her, come here, sexy, which, you know, I guess he thought that would work. Evan Nappen  33:11 Just a friendly greeting, Teddy Nappen  33:13 Yeah, just a friendly greeting to a child, mind you. Just keep that in mind. Evan Nappen  33:18 How old was she? Teddy Nappen  33:20 Oh, 13. But I believe it might have been 12, but you know, Evan Nappen  33:25 She was a sexy 12 year old or 13 year old. So, that makes it okay, Teddy Nappen  33:32 Yeah. I know. She is accused of attacking Ilia Belov, accused of attacking the girl in Dundee. By the way, my wife and I went there for our honeymoon. We went to Scotland. Now, I didn’t get to Dundee. Evan Nappen  33:48 Well, you have Scottish blood in you. You’re a Baird. Yeah, that’s your middle name, Baird. You’re part of the Baird clan, who also were American patriots that fought alongside George Washington. Captain David Baird and General Ray Baird, and they’re buried at the Old Tenant Church in Freehold. Teddy Nappen  34:04 Funny enough. We actually found there was a little book that broke down the Baird clan. I love the tagline, Patriots and Traitors. We were all or nothing with people. Evan Nappen  34:16 Well, your relative was William Wallace’s right hand man. His top man was Baird. Yep. So, you have quite an amazing history there with the Baird clan. Teddy Nappen  34:30 Apparently, the Honor Guard was a Baird of the clan who was for the Bonnie Prince Charlie during the risings. But anyways, so Ilia Belov was accused of following her and the three girls. By the way, the ages were 12 to 14 for the girls. Belov was charged. She told the court she had been walking with her sister and three friends in the Lockheed area, and then pointed out the sexual remarks. She turned around and shouted. The girl said her sister also started shouting, but the pair were away from the friends. At some point, Belov pushed Sophie, pushed her, so already committed assault and battery. And the other witness, the beloved sister, Nadjedzha, who also was not from the country, attacked them as well. So, the sister jumps in and attacks the girl. So, the pedophile and the pedophile’s sister have already attacked Sophie, to which, drawing the ax and knife Evan Nappen  35:33 That she carries. Good for her. Teddy Nappen  35:35 that she carries. Then in the viral video was the man filming, speaking of the migrant rape gangs that have been going on over the year. Thousands of British girls are now following a new trend. And it was the Babylon doing the joke where it looks like like the new fashion trend, knives and axes. Evan Nappen  35:40 Oh, that’s the new fashion trend. Teddy Nappen  35:52 Yeah, but this is what takes the cake. So, we’ll see if the prosecution, if they’re actually going to go and follow the prosecution here, they said. But I love this, Sheriff Tim Smith told the girl, I hope you reflect that it’s not a good idea to carry weapons in the City of Dundee. There’s no such thing as defensive weapons. There’s only offensive weapons. Evan Nappen  36:23 Let that sink in. Teddy Nappen  36:25 That is the true pussification of a nation right there. Evan Nappen  36:28 Oh, my G-d. There’s no such thing as a defensive weapon. Weapons are only offensive. Imagine living in a country whose attitude is that. It’s bad enough that our states have taken that attitude to a certain degree. And of course, New Jersey had that attitude about carry licenses. They wanted everyone to be a victim and not a defender. The Bruen decision changed that. We’re still fighting to remove sensitive places and everything else that the anti-rights, the Second Amendment oppressionists try to foist upon us, because they don’t want anyone to be a defender. They want us all to be victims. But here they just say the quiet part out loud. They honestly believe that there’s no such thing as defensive weapons. I’ll tell you what. That’s what law-abiding citizens weapons are – defensive weapons, because a weapon is how it is utilized. If it is utilized in defense, it is a defensive weapon. And those that are law-abiding, that are facing threats of serious bodily injury or death when they use a weapon to defend their lives. That is defensive use. Evan Nappen  36:37 Just to state, she was charged with possession of offensive weapons. Now, I don’t know if they’re going to proceed with it other than that. This was mostly the case against the two pedophiles. Thankfully, they’re being prosecuted, but. Evan Nappen  38:07 As well? Teddy Nappen  38:08 Yes, oh, of course. You know the multiple charges of pedophilia usually goes to that. Huh? Nice, huh? Evan Nappen  38:17 Really? So, this is what they want to bring to the United States. And keep in mind, our modern gun control came to America from across the pond, as they say. It came from the U.K. It originated there after World War One, and it came here. The movement came here. Since then, the U.K. has now changed their focus after destroying all their gun rights to knives and edged weapons. This defender is facing their anti-knife laws that we have to be keenly aware of in America not to happen. So, we talk about fighting for our knife rights as well as our gun rights. Because remember, folks. The Second Amendment is not the right to keep and bear guns. It’s the right to keep and bear arms, and arms include edge weapons. It includes firearms, includes less than lethal, includes anything that can be used to defend one’s self, and underline and bold defend, and that’s what we’re about. Defensive weapons for law-abiding citizens, so that law-abiding citizens do not become victims, but instead defenders. Evan Nappen  39:48 Well, Teddy, I’ve got to tell you about this week’s GOFU. And the GOFU is, of course, the Gun Owner Fuck Up. And reason we look at GOFUs is because these are actual F UPS made by gun owners that create real problems. Real cases and real issues. So, this week’s GOFU that I want to talk about is what you post. This, you know, is so important. You have to be careful with social media. The Government intrudes into your social media. Others observe your social media, and it can lead to ERPOs. They’ll say, oh, look what he posted, and they misinterpret it. And next thing you know, you’re a victim of no due process ERPO. Being hit with a ERPO with no due process over something on social media. Or it’s used for other investigations. It’s used to deny licensing when you apply and they look at your character. They say, we don’t like this political opinion. We’ve had cases of individuals who were persecuted for their religious beliefs. We’ve had cases because they posted about their religious beliefs. It’s really dangerous. So, the GOFU is be very careful with what you post, what you put out in public, what you do on social media. It can come back and be used by those forces that want to disenfranchise us of our rights. It can be used against you. Evan Nappen  41:33 This is Evan Nappen and Teddy Nappen reminding you that gun laws don’t protect honest citizens from criminals. They absolutely protect criminals from honest citizens. Speaker 3  41:48 Gun Lawyer is a CounterThink Media production. The music used in this broadcast was managed by Cosmo Music, New York, New York. Reach us by emailing Evan@gun.lawyer. The information and opinions in this broadcast do not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state. Downloadable PDF TranscriptGun Lawyer S5 E287_Transcript About The HostEvan Nappen, Esq.Known as “America's Gun Lawyer,” Evan Nappen is above all a tireless defender of justice. Author of eight bestselling books and countless articles on firearms, knives, and weapons history and the law, a certified Firearms Instructor, and avid weapons collector and historian with a vast collection that spans almost five decades — it's no wonder he's become the trusted, go-to expert for local, industry and national media outlets. Regularly called on by radio, television and online news media for his commentary and expertise on breaking news Evan has appeared countless shows including Fox News – Judge Jeanine, CNN – Lou Dobbs, Court TV, Real Talk on WOR, It's Your Call with Lyn Doyle, Tom Gresham's Gun Talk, and Cam & Company/NRA News. As a creative arts consultant, he also lends his weapons law and historical expertise to an elite, discerning cadre of movie and television producers and directors, and novelists. He also provides expert testimony and consultations for defense attorneys across America. Email Evan Your Comments and Questions  talkback@gun.lawyer Join Evan's InnerCircleHere's your chance to join an elite group of the Savviest gun and knife owners in America.  Membership is totally FREE and Strictly CONFIDENTIAL.  Just enter your email to start receiving insider news, tips, and other valuable membership benefits.   Email (required) *First Name *Select list(s) to subscribe toInnerCircle Membership Yes, I would like to receive emails from Gun Lawyer Podcast. (You can unsubscribe anytime)Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.var ajaxurl = "https://gun.lawyer/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php";

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In the summer of 2000, NASCAR faced a massive safety firestorm. But while many drivers pleaded for change following the tragic crashes of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Sr. stood his ground, famously calling out the "candy asses" who wanted to slow the cars down. In this episode of Firestorm: 2000-2001 -- The Years That Forever Changed NASCAR, we dive deep into the intense NASCAR safety debate of 2000. We uncover the behind-the-scenes culture clash between The Intimidator's old-school macho persona and the growing push for safety from drivers like Jeff Burton and Brett Bodine. Why did Earnhardt despise restrictor plates ("Take them damn things off and let her rip!"), refuse to wear full-face helmets, and mock the HANS device? We explore the fierce resistance to modernizing stock car safety, the secret injuries drivers hid to keep racing, and NASCAR's early, desperate attempts to test energy-absorbing walls and Styrofoam blocks before Dean Sicking's game-changing invention of the SAFER barrier. What you'll learn in this episode: • The fallout from the tragic 2000 NASCAR deaths of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin • Dale Earnhardt's unfiltered thoughts on restrictor plates, the HANS device, and full-face helmets • The intense garage divide between old-school traditionalists and new safety advocates • NASCAR's experimental (and sometimes rudimentary) soft wall tests • The origin story of the SAFER barrier Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BTU ransomware, price of roses, owning houses longer, fire-juggling unicyclist, llamas are dangerous and you can't sue the owner in Georgia, ChatGPT, Styrofoam coolers, Dial-a-Poem — plus the latest news and sports. 

Verno and Jacoby are back as they share 10 things they are keeping an eye on. They discuss who could be possibly moved by next week's trade deadline, the seeding in the West, Flagg vs. Kon, the 2026 draft class, Jayson Tatum's eventual return, and so much more. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (00:58) Who could move at the trade deadline? (14:45) What is going on with the Toronto Raptors? (21:15) Which teams could rise in the West? (27:29) Outlook for the six and seven seed in the West (30:27) Will there be any more head coaching changes? (36:04) Rookie of the Year race with Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel (40:01) 2026 draft class balling out (48:17) What happens with the Lakers next season? (57:24) Netflix stock and Styrofoam cups Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! (323) 389-5091 Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez, Stefan Anderson, and Jeff Shearin Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dive into the rabbit hole with Lionel on The Other Side of Midnight as he dissects official narratives with his signature skepticism. Lionel questions the anomalies surrounding the death of Osama Bin Laden, asking why there was a burial at sea and zero photographic evidence. The conversation shifts to 9/11 mysteries, scrutinizing the "freefall" collapse of Building 7, the physics of the Pentagon crash, and the missing trillions announced the day before the attacks. Lionel also tackles the Pope's warning against AI, discussing the existential threat of humans forming emotional bonds with chatbots that could turn predatory. Plus, a listener reports on "fake snow" that looks like Styrofoam, a tribute to Dragnet's Jack Webb, and a plea for the return of critical thinking and curiosity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to That Don't Sound Right a podcast about talking the way we did before the internet—when knowledge lived in the room and expertise came from the people in the conversation, not a search bar. In this episode, hosts Peter and Cecil take a hard (and slightly nostalgic) look at the insulated-tumbler obsession. From Yeti and Hydro Flask to Stanley and the explosion of stainless-steel cups everywhere you turn, they debate whether these trendy tumblers are actually helping the environment—or quietly creating a future landfill problem. The conversation drifts (as it should) into memories of Styrofoam cups, old-school thermoses, Trapper Keepers, and the practical, no-frills stuff we grew up with. Are modern metal tumblers better, or just better marketed? And what happens to all of these cups when the craze fades and the next must-have item takes over? Pull up a chair, pour something into your cup of choice, and listen in. And if at any point you find yourself thinking, “That don't sound right,” leave a comment and join the conversation. #tdsrpodcast #ThatDontSoundRight #PodcastConversation #OldSchoolThinking #StainlessSteelTumbler #Yeti #HydroFlask #StanleyCup #SustainabilityDebate #EnvironmentalQuestions #EverydayCulture #NostalgiaPodcast Connect with us:

This week, Jim and Eric shift from breaking Universal news into a fascinating look back at how the company perfected the art of staged chaos. From the official confirmation of a Fast & Furious coaster to high winds halting Epic Universe testing, the conversation eventually lands on the wonderfully cheesy, sometimes dangerous, and always ingenious Jay Bangs that defined the Universal Studios Hollywood Tram Tour for decades. NEWS • Universal officially confirms a Fast & Furious coaster to replace Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit • Universal Orlando's latest emotional ad sparks debate over nostalgia versus party vibes • High winds stall testing on Epic Universe's Stardust Racers coaster • Mystery concrete and launch tubes hint at a future nighttime spectacular at Epic Universe • A noticeable rise in lawsuits across major theme parks raises industry concerns FEATURE • Why Universal's Tram Tour illusions were internally known as Jay Bangs • Collapsing bridges, rockslides, spinning tunnels, and other classic disaster effects • How films like Jaws helped push Universal toward attractions tied to contemporary hits • The fine line between thrilling guests and accidentally pelting them with wet Styrofoam “rocks” HOSTS • Jim Hill - IG: @JimHillMedia | X: @JimHillMedia | Website: JimHillMedia.com • Eric Hersey - IG: @erichersey | X: @erichersey FOLLOW • Facebook: JimHillMediaNews • Instagram: JimHillMedia • TikTok: JimHillMedia SUPPORT Support the show and access bonus episodes and additional content at Patreon.com/JimHillMedia. PRODUCTION CREDITS Edited by Dave Grey Produced by Eric Hersey - Strong Minded Agency SPONSOR Planning your next theme park adventure? Let the experts at Be Our Guest Vacations help you plan a trip to Universal Orlando Resort, Hollywood, Disney parks, cruises, and more. Start planning today at BeOurGuestVacations.com and be sure to mention the Epic Universal Podcast. If you would like to sponsor a show on the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, reach out today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Sign up for Audible, using our affiliate link! When you sign up for Audible you will be helping out our podcast, and the “Terry goat fund.” When you sign up, your first month is free. After that it becomes $15 every month. You can unsubscribe at any time. Each month you will get one token for an audible book, and some really great prices and discounts on titles that you want to add to your library. Quick recap The meeting began with personal travel experiences, including dietary preferences and climate adjustments. The group then covered various news stories and unusual events, ranging from rejected license plates to a robot setting a badminton record, before transitioning to a detailed demonstration of a DA2 digital player and its features. The conversation ended with humorous stories and jokes, followed by a reminder about listener ratings and upcoming episodes. Summary Terry shared his travel experiences, including an incident where his suitcase vibrated due to an accidentally activated beard trimmer, and mentioned his adjustment to the warm climate in Chicago, which contrasted with the cold back home. They also talked about dietary preferences, with Terry recounting a conversation with a Wisconsin resident who avoids cheese and discussed his own meal preferences during his hospital stay. Terry mentions the consistent menu of pot roast served at the facility. Terry and Keith discussed the poor quality of food and service at the hospital cafeteria at Hines, noting that meals were served on Styrofoam plates with plastic utensils since November. Terry mentioned giving braille calendars to Maggie from the Madison County Blind, to be distributed to veterans during exit interviews. News of the Week Due to technology issues Terry passes the torch to Jill to get the segment started. She shared an update on a hibernating bear under a California man’s house, which had been lured into a cage by wildlife officials but ended up capturing the wrong bear. Terry then shared a story about Illinois officials revealing rejected personalized license plates from 2025, including one that read “I be poopin’.” Keith shared details about the auction of the final run of pennies in the United States, where 232 sets of three pennies sold for $16.76 million, with the last penny sold for $8,000. They also discussed the historical value of pennies and the changing cost of penny candy over the years. Jill mentioned a story about a Japanese company building a robot, though the details were not fully explored. The unusual news stories continue, including a robot setting a world record for consecutive badminton returns against humans, a horse knocking over a mailbox in Florida, and police recovering a stolen Faberge egg in New Zealand. Terry shared a story about a West Coast fast food chain, In-N-Out Burger, removing the number 67 from their ticket order system due to a viral trend. Jill's Weird Words Before Jill can get her first word out, Terry has more technical difficulty. Will he make it back in time for his top 10 list? Jill introduces a word game, where participants had to guess the meaning of “Verso” and “e-Phyllis.” Terry's Top 10 List He makes it back just in time, and Terry shared his top 10 list of things reindeer do when it’s not Christmas. They then transitioned to discussing Terry’s new book reader from the NLS library, which he brought to Heinz for instruction. Keith helped identify features of the device, including USB ports, a cartridge slot, and the possibility of connecting a QWERTY keyboard for entering passwords and book titles. Anchor Topic This is the segment or we talk about blindness related issues. Since Terry is now receiving extra training, we turn the segment over to him so we can share what his goals are to learn. Terry demonstrated the functionality of a DA2 digital player, including its buttons, features, and navigation. He explained how to use various buttons for tasks like playing books, adjusting settings, and accessing the user guide. Keith and Jill provided clarifications and asked questions to better understand the device’s capabilities. They discussed the possibility of covering more features in a future session. Email and Final Thoughts Keith reads emails from listeners, but Terry expressed a preference for emails about real experiences rather than dreams or visions. Keith shared a humorous story about St. Peter at the gates of heaven, where he compared the rewards given to different individuals based on their earthly deeds. He followed it up with the story about a man whose wife discovered he made bets on horses. The final word from our AI companion The group then engaged in a lighthearted exchange of jokes, with Terry and Jill contributing their own humorous anecdotes. The episode concluded with Keith encouraging listeners to leave ratings and feedback, and reminding them to check for new episodes every Thursday. Show notes written by AI, edited as needed by Keith. Sponsored by: Retro Radio Podcast. Bringing you family-friendly entertainment through classic, old-time radio. Episodes are posted daily. Keith and his Retrobots share everything in his collection from the days of vintage radio. Adventure, comedy, detective, westerns, and lots in between. If you don't hear your favorite show, just ask Visit the web page today, https://retro-otr.com

Elf on a Shelf: Part 1 Her stalker wasn't who she thought he was; Based on a post by LingeringAfterthought, in 3 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. Honey smiled at the long line of children waiting to see Santa, flipping her phone from Google Translate back to see the information of the next little girl in line, who was looking up at her somberly with large liquid brown eyes. In her small face was a familiar mixture of fear and hope. Wonder; it was wonder in her eyes, Honey thought. Unlike the tired and jaded adults, dutifully shifting their weight from foot to foot, holding overstuffed shopping bags and all the coats of their kids as they distracted themselves on their phones, the children got more and more excited as they drew near the man in the furry red suit with white trim. Honey loved working with the children; because like them, she sometimes could still see the magic. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Norman shift uncomfortably in the painted plywood throne made for him to sit with the children and discuss their good behavior and of the wishes that they hoped would come true. Even at age 62, Norman still saw the magic with his merry bright blue eyes, but it faded when his prostate pained him. When the photographer got the shot the parent wanted, Honey walked to where most of the long line could see her as Norman flashed her a look of worshipful gratitude. The adults' faces immediately fell, knowing what was coming. "I'm afraid Santa needs to take a quick break because apparently the reindeer have begun arguing again!" Norman put his gloved hands up to his real beard, pulled a comically dismayed face, jumped up from his throne, and ran off toward the restrooms. Honey shook her head mournfully and continued, "The reindeer were all practicing their Christmas carols when Comet and Cupid couldn't decide how many times Santa checks his list in Santa Claus is Coming to Town! Does anyone here remember how it goes?" she asked, scanning the line for people game enough to help. Honey scampered back and forth along the line trying to choose among the eager volunteers, her white-trimmed, pink fur skirt flaring out around her thighs, her long legs clad in sparkly curly-toed ruby slippers and candy cane swirl stockings catching the eyes of several fathers. Suddenly, she gasped listening carefully to her headset, "Nina?" she called out. "Comet and Cupid say they will only stop arguing if 'Nina' gives the answer. Is there a 'Nina' here today? Nina?" Honey looked around at the crowd carefully until the little girl with the big brown eyes, who had been quietly waiting 57 minutes in line, gathered the courage to raise her hand. "Oh! Are you Nina?" she asked, running over and crouching down near the girl. "We just adopted her; she only speaks Portuguese," the weary woman holding her hand said quietly. Honey gasped and smiled widely, "Voc fala portugu s Nina? Maravilhosa!" she said, watching the little girl's eyes brighten excitedly. "Voc pode me dizer quantas vezes o Papai Noel verifica sua lista?" she asked, holding her microphone out to the little girl. "Duas vezes!" Nina said confidently into the mic. Honey listened carefully to her headset, concentrating, "'Duas vezes' it is! They've stopped arguing!" she announced. "But now, they want us all to sing the song in Portuguese! Nina, voc vai me ajudar a ensin -los a m sica?" she asked. Nina nodded and slowly she and Honey taught the familiar song to the crowd in a new language. As always, a hush came on the crowd when Honey began to sing. Heads raised up from forgotten phones. Vague smiles drifted onto the turning heads of passers-by in the mall as they paused in their frenetic search for gifts. It wasn't so much that Honey's voice was beautiful, though it certainly was. It was more that when Honey sang, it seemed to make the things that didn't really matter melt away. To those that believed in such things, Honey's voice was magic. When she sang, people held their breath and didn't even miss the air. Honey closed her eyes as she sang next to Nina. It was a newly acquired habit. Though she had been taught to let her eyes slowly drift over the audience, letting them make a connection with each person as she sang, she didn't do that anymore. She knew he was out there. She felt his presence frequently as she worked, but it was only when she sang that he came out into the open. She couldn't hold her voice steady when she saw him watching her, so she closed her eyes and let the magic continue for the crowd. When the song ended, Honey opened her eyes as the crowd cheered, finding his powerful form immediately as if she had been commanded to look at him. Zach. He had changed a lot in the year since he brought his sister's children through the long Santa line, drawing her almost too-large dark blue eyes to him then, as easily as he did now. After bringing his nieces and nephews through the line, he'd gone home and brought all his neighbors' kids to see Santa in five more trips, watching her the entire time. He looked at her as if he'd never seen anything like her in the world, like he couldn't believe she was real. She had loved feeling his eyes on her then, hearing his voice. She had wanted to climb up in his lap, feel his large arms curled around her, whisper to him about how good she had been that year, and of how much she hoped he would make her wishes come true. Of course, all that was before he'd told her he wanted to kill her. Zach's face looked leaner now, though his body seemed even larger, if such a thing was possible. His brooding, deep-set eyes were not merry, as they had been when children climbed his tree-like body in her line last year. They weren't nervously soft and adoring of every part of her, as they had been at their candle-lit dinner. His eyes weren't rageful or insane as you might expect from someone visiting their object of murderous hate, but rather; they were tortured, trapped. Pain and quiet desperation had taken up restless residence in the windows to his soul. Honey knew she shouldn't look at him so much, but she just wished she could understand what she had done wrong. Once the line of children and parents had cleared, it was long past the official closing time. Honey cleaned up the display and prepared it for the next day while Norman took one last lingering trip to the restroom. Her phone showed numerous messages from work friends from her other job asking where she was. The firm had planned a Christmas party at Gatsby's, a gorgeous club worthy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's glamorous hero. It was also the place where Zach had taken her on their first and last date. The Gatsby's waiter had looked stunned and confused when she shakily ordered herself an "angel shot," the code-phrase used to quietly ask bartenders or wait staff for help when you felt threatened, but after his initial shock, the waiter immediately escorted her secretly to a taxi waiting outside before Zach returned to the table. Gatsby's had saved her life; but she didn't want to go back there. After avoiding call after call from Zach, she finally answered and politely asked him never to call her again. To her surprise, he didn't. He never spoke to her again. Unless she sang, she never even saw him, but she felt his presence almost everywhere. It felt like she was haunted by him; haunted by something wonderful and magical that, inexplicably, went horribly wrong. Her phone buzzed again, the display showing that the firm's senior partner wanted to FaceTime her. Steeling herself, she answered. "Honey Lane where in the hell; oh my god lookit you!" Aaron Timberman held the phone high above his head with his long ex-basketball-player arms and Honey saw a crowd of her co-workers crowd into the picture behind him. "Um, hi sir. Sorry I'm late to;" "You're an elf!" "Um, yeah. It's a volunteer thing;" "Wait, wait, wait; you have the shoes? You know, with the; toes?" he slurred, motioning his finger in a spiral motion. Honey bit her lips and tilted the camera down her body, showing her entire costume, tilting her foot to show off the curled toe. "I'm sorry it got late tonight, but I'll be there as soon as I can get home and get changed;" Timberman looked around at the crowd surrounding him, "Guys, do we wanna see Honey Lane here at the party in some boring old Anne Klein shit, or do we want the elf?" he yelled, pointing at the screen. Behind him, almost a dozen of her co-workers began chanting "Elf, Elf, Elf, Elf!" "Get yer ass over here, Elf," Timberman ordered, poking at his screen several times before effectively ending the call. A few minutes later, Norman finally came back from the restroom and gave Honey a ride over to Gatsby's in his red SUV bedecked with a bumper sticker that read, "My other car's a SLEIGH!" Honey hopped out after getting bits of advice from Norman that would have been appropriate several decades ago. With flaming cheeks, she brushed the furry white pompom from her hat out of her face and told the smirking ma tre d which party she wanted, sighing when he grinned widely and escorted her through the middle of the main dining area, much to her horror. When the doors to the party room opened and she was greeted by another round of "Elf, Elf, Elf, Elf," she didn't feel much better. She was starving, so she headed over to the buffet and began loading up a plate with delicious-looking things on ice in shot glasses, impaled on sticks, or immersed in flames. She just spied a quiet table in a dark corner and was winding her way toward it to it to scarf down her only food since breakfast before she could be drawn into a drunken debate. That was the plan, anyway. "Hunnybaby! Lookit you! C'mon we gotta dance!" Lee James slurred to her fur-trimmed tits. With a sigh, she smiled and laid her plate down on a nearby table, promising to herself that she would eat right after enduring a dance with the favored junior partner. Unfortunately, after Lee angled her awkwardly around the dance floor, they'd drawn so much attention that everyone wanted to get pics of themselves toasting and dancing with the Christmas elf. At some point, she found herself in Timberman's arms with a glass of champagne in her hand. "Um; what?" she said, almost asking herself how she had gotten there. "I said you look lovely, tonight, Honey. Much better than in a shawl and sheath dress," he said, quickly twirling her around as they reached the edge of the dance floor. "Twirling makes my skirt go up; I'm dizzy," she murmured. A familiar dark figure flashed in the background and disappeared as Timberman turned her again. She looked around, trying to find the figure again, but she couldn't see him anywhere. Why was he there? Had she been singing again? "Well, I'll make sure nobody twirls you, my dear," he said, twirling her and smiling as her skirt flew up her long candy-cane striped legs. "The wives wouldn't like it." "I like your wife's dress Mr. Timberman; looks warm. It covers her ass when she sits, too," she slurred, frowning in confusion at the dark red drink in her hand now. Zach was frowning, and then he just looked blurry again as she swirled around. Maybe swirling made it harder for him to kill her. Why did he want to kill her? It just wasn't fair. Timberman leaned down and dipped her, "I'll make sure to give her your compliments. You know, if you like what wives wear, you should consider getting married. Lee is quite taken with you, you know," he said, stroking his hand against the soft pink velvet of her dress. Honey found herself drifting away and wandering inside her head again, thinking about Lee; he was handsome in an overly-polished way, said funny things, but they always sounded a little mean, like he wanted to be the only one laughing; and he also took her away from the food plate that just floated by on a table. It was still full. She should have eaten that food. What time was it? "He likes my boobs; and he doesn't want to kill me," she agreed eventually, surprised to find that Timberman was gone and she was dancing with Lee James again. "Well, I can't blame him for that; they're fucking perfect; just like everything else. I'm gonna come on them after you suck me off; he murmured, pulling her closer against him. "Let me take you home, Honey; penthouse view of the city; "Umm; no, that's not home; I live in the; railroad place; with the trains?" Honey explained, pointing in what she thought was the direction of the Lowertown Commons. Why did every guy think she lived with them tonight? "Sounds charming, Eliza Doolittle; you should trade up. You don't know how much I'd love twist your arms back and fuck this ass wide open over my balcony tonight," he said, reaching his hand under her skirt and greedily squeezing her bottom. "You'd like that, wouldn't you Honey? I can tell; Lee whispered, his cologne invading her head and making her queasy. "I feel sick; Honey whimpered and staggered away, trying to find the quiet table where the food was that would make her less drunk. The dance floor was confusing, though, always turning around and thumping and flashing. She leaned against a pillar until she got a better sense of where she was. She liked the pillar. It was big and strong; and it stroked her hair. "Honey; wake up, Honey. Open your mouth. You need to take these," the vaguely familiar voice said, cutting through the sleep that had been blocking out some of the pain she felt everywhere. She obediently opened her mouth and the hand put two caplets on her tongue. A water bottle squirted a little cool liquid into her mouth until she moaned and sucked harder, desperate for more. "Not too much. Wait until you can hold that down. I'll give you more in a bit. You don't want that IV back, do you?" "Nuh" Honey groaned. She hated needles. Sure, just about every part of her body hurt more than a needle did, right now, but somehow needle pain felt personal. Like with Zach. He didn't seem like someone who went around wanting to choke everybody; just her. She was nobody special; just a simple girl who kept lawyers organized and tried to be nice. Then, someone wonderful like Zach thought she needed to die. That hurt. Something about her made him go from being tender and intensely loving to someone who; it just didn't make sense. What did she do? Mercifully, sleep faded the pain and clouded her thoughts. Voices below her intruded into a wonderful dream where she was bouncing on clouds. Though not in the same room, the voices seemed strangely clear. "I can't; Terry, she cries when I do that," the pills voice said, making her eyes fly open. She knew that voice. She hadn't heard it for a year, but she would never forget it. Her body reacted with a confused mix of emotions, her cheeks flushing and adrenaline searing a path all through her at the same time. "That's because it hurts her. You know what hurts more? Bedsores. Man up. Use the pillows to prop her weight against the parts that aren't hurt on whichever side. It's either this, or she goes back to the hospital, and I have it on good authority you won't be allowed to visit after what happened." "She was screaming; Zach gritted. "Yeah, well they were putting her shoulder back in. People scream. That still doesn't excuse what you did. Since when did you become such a pussy about pain?" Terry asked. "since her." "oh my god." "Shut up," Zach grunted. "Oh my god; "Yeah, that's not shutting up." "The great Z-dog has been taken down;" "Shut up, maggot, it's not like that. I'm just taking care of h;" "By a little bitty pink Christmas elf; Terry laughed. There was a scuffling sound and then a loud whoomp and a forceful exhalation of air. "So, I turn her every few hours until she can do it for herself?" Zach asked, casually. "Yes, sir," Terry choked. "Anything else?" "Clear liquids until she can hold stuff down. Talk to her. Ask her questions. If she seems disoriented or part of her face goes slack, she goes back to the hospital. Don't fuck around." "Got it. Are you squared away, or do we need to discuss this further?" "Squared away, sir," Terry choked, then gasped in relief, panting faintly. "Jesus Christ, you haven't lost your touch. We on for the hump tomorrow at 0 500?" "No. I'm gonna stick close here until she's;" "Got it. Hey, maybe they have those Baby Bjorn things in elf-size. Then, you could just strap her onto your ba; ow! ow! ow, ow, ow!" "You weren't particularly attached to the rest of that sentence, were you, maggot?" Zach growled. "Sir, no sir; Terry squeaked. "I didn't think so. You'll be back here Wednesday," Zach stated, more as an order than a question. "Yeah, if you want me to. Honestly, right now she just needs rest and TLC more than a medic. That stands for 'tender loving care' by the way, not;" "You were just going," Zach said, as the voices moved to another end of the room below her. "Hey, you wanna know what makes an elf's toes curl up like tha;" Terry asked, his question cut off by the slamming of the door. Honey listened, trembling and terrified as Zach paced the floor below her. Though his voice hadn't changed, he sounded nothing like the man that had wooed her so tenderly a year ago. He sounded dangerous, brutal even. He definitely sounded like the kind of person that went around wanting to choke everyone, she thought, strangely relieved that her heartbreak felt a little less personal. How could she have been so wrong in her impression of him? She looked around the room, understanding now how the voices had reached her so easily. She was in an open industrial loft bedroom that opened onto the main floor below. Looking around, she realized she must be in Zach's huge bed, though if the crisply made side next to her was any indication, he hadn't been sleeping in it with her. Looking down her body, she gasped quietly. Her left arm was in a sling strapped to her chest, her legs were covered in bruises, and the right leg that was being stabbed with an invisible knife right now, was wrapped up in an air cast boot. What had happened to her? The last thing she remembered was feeling sick as she tried to get away from Lee's groping hands on the dance floor. After that; nothing. How did she get here? A beeping noise sounded below and Zach walked across the room to what sounded like a kitchen. The sound of water being poured into a cup, the ringing of a spoon stirring it, a pill bottle being opened. Honey shivered, realizing he was probably coming up to her, soon. She closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing, feigning sleep. Steps ascending to the loft bedroom. Ankle stabbing, stab, stab, stab, stab with every panicked heartbeat. A tray went down on the nightstand next to her. A chair across the room was lifted and set down by the bed. Honey told herself to breathe slowly, willing the tears welling behind her lids not to leak out of her eyes. He would leave her alone if she was sleeping, wouldn't he? "You're not sleeping," Zach's voice stated, quietly, and her stomach clenched in fear. "You've been waking up for these pills every four hours like a junkie. I know you don't want to talk to me, Honey, but until you're squared away, you're gonna have to. So, cut the crap, open your eyes, and let's get this done." Honey opened her eyes to see his grim face looking down at her. With one blink, large tears rolled down her pale cheeks, and Zach's jaw set angrily. Sitting down in the chair, he put his elbows on his knees and leaned his massive shoulders forward, looking at her. His hands looked like they could crush rocks as he gripped them together. "Let's get some things straight. I don't know what you think you know about me, but acting like I'm some kind of psycho is pretty shitty. You want nothing of me, that's fine, but you're hurt because you screamed and flung yourself down some stairs rather than let me help you to an Uber. You're staying here until you're well, because some shithead at that party gave you enough roofies to be in a coma for almost 3 days and I'm not dragging my ass to that rat trap of yours in the Commons every day to make sure they don't come back while you're weak. Are we clear?" he asked. Honey swallowed and nodded, wincing at the pain in her neck and head. That just seemed to make Zach angrier. "While you are here, you will do as you're told. You will eat what you get, and you will not complain. You see these, here?" he said, holding up the magic caplets that made everything better. "These are the last ones you're getting. I'm switching you to ibuprofen and Tylenol because, unchecked, this Sackler shit will fuck you up for good and that's not happening on my watch. Do you understand?" he asked. "Yes," Honey whispered. At the sound of her voice, Zach's mouth twitched, but at least he didn't look as angry as when she'd nodded and winced. "You will follow your doctor's orders to the last goddamn word. You will rest. You will do your therapy. You will let me help you and you will ask me for what you need because I am not a fucking mind reader. And so help me, if you do anything stupid like get out of that bed without me here to help you, or push yourself away from me like you did at Gatsby's, or any other drama shit that hurts even one hair on that head again, I will personally make you regret you were ever born." "Yes, Zach," Honey breathed, confused. Two more tears rolled down her cheeks. Without thinking, she leaned over to wipe them off on her shoulder and cried out in pain. Zach squeezed his clenched hands together and several of his knuckles cracked. "You don't use my name. You don't get to use my name. You're not getting under my skin again, you hear me?" Zach growled, using his rough knuckle to wipe her tears. "Orders a fucking angel shot in my own fucking club; fuck you. I don't have a name, you don't have a name. You're nothing to me. Understand?" "Yes, sir," she whispered. Honey leaned forward and took the last spoonful of broth into her mouth and swallowed, looking longingly at the noodles at the bottom of the cup. Zach caught a drop of broth at the bottom of her lower lip with the spoon and returned it to her mouth. "No," he said, seeing where her eyes lingered. "I can do it," she pleaded. "Please; I haven't had anything solid since; how long has it been?" "I said, no. You throw up on another pair of my skivvies and I'll be doing laundry twice a week," Zach said, dabbing her mouth with a paper towel. "Why do I have to wear your boxer briefs anyway? They feel weird. They have this hole-flap thing; and there are some places that aren't supposed to feel a breeze," Honey said, lifting the blanket to look down at his underwear loosely covering her hips. "Are you complaining?" he asked quietly. Honey's eyes darted quickly to his face, "No sir," she murmured, looking down at her lap. "I just thought if I had some of my things here, you wouldn't have to do the laundry so much." "I'll worry about what I have to do, Honey," he said, unthinkingly using her name. Startled, she looked up to see his eyes wandering over her, his massive t-shirt sleeves going down past her elbows. She felt ridiculous and disheveled, but something about the way he looked at her made her hold her breath. Then, without another word, he slurped the noodles out of the cup and took the tray downstairs. After that, the two settled into a quiet routine of him feeding her, giving her medicine, and watching her sleep most of the day. She would sometimes awaken to the soft repetitive sounds of him running on a treadmill, or the clinking of him lifting weights downstairs where she couldn't see him. Then, he would go to the bathroom and shower. After his shower, he came upstairs again in his towel and took some clothes from his dresser before going back downstairs to change. Honey found herself looking forward to those few seconds each day, watching his droplet-covered torso twist as he leaned over his dresser. He frowned as he flipped through his carefully folded underwear. "You wearing the grey ones?" he asked, not looking at her. Honey peeked under the covers, "Um, yes sir," she replied. "I'm supposed to wear the grey ones today," he grumbled to himself. Honey didn't say anything. Zach was the one who picked out which underwear she wore today. He was the one who looked away while he painstakingly slipped the old ones off her hips and pulled the new ones over her boot and up her legs until her bottom was covered again. There was nothing about her life that wasn't chosen and executed by him. If he wasn't happy about the color of his underwear, that was his fault. Still, Zach kept rummaging around in his underwear drawer as if another crisply folded grey pair would somehow magically appear. Finally, rather than offend him by laughing, Honey spoke, "Um; you know, if they're clean, I could wear the pair I had on when I went to the hospital and you could have these. It would get you back on schedule; Zach lifted his head from the drawer and glared at her, as if he thought she was making fun of him. Honey held carefully still and shrugged her uninjured limb. She wasn't making fun, she just wanted to help. The movement caused the huge neckline to gape over to the side, revealing her bare shoulder. She waited as Zach stared impassively at her, the vein at his neck throbbing. After a long moment, he walked over and stood next to her, the tuck of his towel right next to her face. With every breath, she inhaled the scent of his wet body and the bar soap he used. A rivulet of water painstakingly slid from his chest and down his abdomen, until finally disappearing into the tightly twisted white cotton. Honey glanced up to see that he had been reading her face as she watched the droplet's progress. With a shaking breath, she blushed and pulled the covers higher with her good arm. With a twist of his mouth, Zach pulled the neckline back over her shoulder again and quickly left the room. That night, after leaving her with a video baby monitor watching her on the nightstand, Zach returned with a bag of her underwear and some of her nightgowns. After watching her excitedly sort through them, Zach pushed them aside and sat on the edge of the bed. "There were a bunch of boxes with tags on them in your living room. What's that about?" he asked. Honey's eyes dropped, "Oh; that's the charity gift thing for kids. You sign up and get them something they wished for and wrap it up so they can have something under the tree, when they wouldn't have something otherwise. It's nice, you know? I signed up for a bunch and I was supposed to wrap them and get them back to the law firm, but I guess; sorry kids," she trailed off. Looking furious, yet carefully impassive at the same time, Zach cursed under his breath and left again, returning with the packages and a huge stack of unused Styrofoam clamshells from Gatsby's, and dumped them on the bed next to her. For the next few hours, they "wrapped" the presents, Zach carefully fitting items into an appropriate-sized takeout box, and Honey trying to make them pretty with ribbons. As she watched him work, occasionally cursing under his breath, she found herself smiling at his frowning face when he was strategizing how to fit a basketball into three disassembled clamshells. "What are you laughing at?" he said, glaring when he caught her at it. "I wasn't laughing. I was smiling." "Why were you smiling, then?" he asked. "I guess; I just like you; sir," she said, glancing over at him. Honey saw a hopeful softness steal into Zach's eyes until he forcibly wrestled it down and a look of hooded sarcasm shaded them. "Yeah, well; fool me once," he sneered. Angry, Honey closed her eyes, blocking him out the only way she could. "You know, that's; that's not fair. Not after what you said; you scared me!" she said, frustrated that, once again, tears were rolling down her cheeks. Zach choked out a mirthless laugh, "I scared you? What did I say, Honey? What did I fucking say? God! I was on eggshells all night trying not to fuck it up with you and then you just; why? Those creeps you were dancing with at that party, those fucking 'nice guys' that drugged you, they were saying shit that made my skin crawl! I didn't even kiss you! I couldn't! I could barely breathe just for looking at you on our date; you looked just like a fucking angel. What did I say, Honey? What did I say?" Honey reached over and grabbed her phone, flipping through her photo album to a screenshot taken shortly before she blocked his number. "You didn't say it; you texted it. I remember watching you leave for the restroom thinking I'd met the love of my life and then you sent me this; she said, handing her phone to him. Zach took the phone, his face going from an angry red to pale horror in a matter of seconds. "This; this; he gasped, "I didn't; send this; to you; he said, shaking his head. "Whoever had your phone did, sir!" she said, emphasizing the last word, making him wince. "I spent the last year thinking you wanted to do that to me; to kill me. Every time I felt you watching me, every crowd I saw you show up in, every dark room I had to go into, that's what I thought about. I thought that a man I was head over heels about; that I could be so wrong about him. So, excuse me for thinking I liked you, sir. I promise it won't ever happen again!" Honey cried herself to sleep that night, refusing to speak to, or even look at Zach again. When she awoke, the bedroom was empty, and a glass of water and a pain pill were waiting on the nightstand. After swallowing the pill, she stared at the ceiling, furious. She didn't want to be there anymore, to be helpless and dependent on him, to obey all his stupid rules. He didn't deserve to take care of her. So, she tightened the straps on her boot and increased the air pressure to hold her broken ankle tightly enough to walk without her crutches. Then, she took off Zach's t-shirt, pulled on her elf dress, and called herself an Uber. It was when she saw the anticipated arrival time of 8 minutes that she realized her mistake. There was no way for her to get down from the loft and out of the apartment quietly in that amount of time. If she used the crutches, she would be able to descend the stairs quickly enough, but they made such a distinctive clicking racket that they would surely wake up her gorilla-like guard. If she hopped down the stairs on her good foot, it might have worked, but her good arm was on the opposite side and she kept losing her balance. Eventually she decided on the most painful course, of going down on her good and bad legs, using her good arm for support. Her boot thunked horribly the first few times, until she got the hang of it and could place it more quietly on the next step and then hop her good foot down to support it before the scream inside her could escape her lips. By the time she reached the bottom, though, she was shaking with pain and exhausted. Curiosity forced her to look around the rest of the apartment as she caught her breath, sitting on the bottom step. It was clean and unmistakably masculine. Exercise equipment took up a lot of the space not already claimed by a leather couch and TV arrangement. Zach lay on the couch, made up with sheets to act as a bed, his feet sticking out over the arm, his hand tucked under the back of his head, his chest rising and falling under the rumpled sheet. If she wasn't so angry, she'd find him handsome; or maybe he still was handsome, she thought grudgingly, closing her eyes miserably and looking away. Why couldn't he be ugly? Life wasn't fair. Uber. Right. Screwing up her courage for what was ahead, she stood and slowly hobbled across the hardwood floor, agonizing over every painful thump and noisy squeak until she finally reached the door. She unlocked the five locks on his large door, each of them being well-oiled and working perfectly. She expected no less of her anal-retentive, grey-skivvies-on-Tuesdays captor. Finally, she tugged open the heavy door to find endless flights of icy steel-mesh stairs leading all the way down to the street where her Uber was waiting. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me; she cried, breaking down into tears. A strong arm slid down around her waist and mercifully shifted her weight off her throbbing foot, "I know. It sucks. You should try it with a rucksack full of bricks," Zach said, leaning his head down and breathing into her hair. "I want to go home," she whispered. "Let me take care of you; please," Zach murmured into the top of her head, "I; it was my fault this happened to you. I scared you, I know that now; but, please believe me that I would never want to hurt or frighten you like that." "It wasn't just that text," she said, pulling her head away and looking up at him angrily. "All year, I never had a moment's peace. Even when I couldn't see you, I could feel you waiting in the quiet or dark places. Even if you weren't there;" "I was there," he confessed. "I was always there. I didn't understand what had gone wrong. You didn't want to talk to me, and the world just didn't make sense to me unless I knew where you were, what you were doing; unless I knew you were safe." "Maybe you knew I was safe, but I didn't! I thought I'd done something; that somehow I deserved to have this beautiful, scary monster hunting me. I couldn't stop thinking about what I'd done to destroy something that was so; wonderful." "You didn't do anything, Honey. Nothing at all. You were perfect. You were so perfect that I couldn't keep; you didn't do anything wrong. I never meant to send you that message; please, please believe me." "Why did you send it?" she asked, finally looking up into his eyes. The dark blue liquid pools of her eyes turned violet in the moonlight, and Zach felt a tightening in his chest. "I; I can't tell you that; but it was never meant for you." "You mean, you meant to send that message to someone else? To hurt them like that?" "Honey, I; Zach said, looking around, unable to meet her eyes, "Please, I can't; you wouldn't understand; my life isn't like that anymore." "I want to go home, Zach; please," she whispered. Zach closed his eyes for a long moment before he swallowed and nodded, looking like he was in more pain than she was. "I'll take you home tomorrow, okay? Or Terry will, if you don't want me to. He'll check the place out, make sure you're set up and safe there. You're tired, you're hurting, and your Uber's gone, now. Let me take you back upstairs and you can go in the morning. Please." At that moment, a throb of pain shot through her entire leg, and as angry as Honey was, she knew she couldn't face her empty apartment without a few more hours of rest. "Okay," she whispered. To be continued in part 2, Based on a post by Lingering Afterthought, in 3 parts, for Literotica.

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祈禱 qídǎo – to pray火災 huǒzāi – fire; blaze關鍵 guānjiàn – key; crucial疑似 yísì – suspected; seemingly違規 wéiguī – to violate rules吸菸 xīyān – to smoke工程 gōngchéng – construction project起火點 qǐhuǒdiǎn – ignition point; where the fire started菸蒂 yāndì – cigarette butt痕跡 hénjì – trace; mark違反 wéifǎn – to violate; to break (rules/laws)建材 jiàncái – building materials著火 zháohuǒ – to catch fire外牆 wàiqiáng – outer wall整修 zhěngxiū – to renovate; to repair防水布 fángshuǐbù – waterproof covering/tarp窗框 chuāngkuàng – window frame保麗龍 bǎolìlóng – Styrofoam火勢 huǒshì – the spread/strength of a fire蔓延 mànyán – to spread天文台 tiānwéntái – observatory (e.g., Hong Kong Observatory)鑽進 zuānjìn – to drill into; to squeeze into鷹架 yīngjià – scaffolding縫隙 fèngxì – gap; crack煙囪效應 yāncōng xiàoyìng – chimney effect封閉 fēngbì – to block; to close off遮住 zhēzhù – to cover; to block逃生 táoshēng – to escape (from danger)消防隊 xiāofángduì – fire department救援 jiùyuán – rescue火災警報器 huǒzāi jǐngbàoqì – fire alarm濃煙 nóngyān – thick smoke故障 gùzhàng – malfunction; breakdown響 xiǎng – to ring; to sound延燒 yánshāo – to spread (fire to other areas)安置 ānzhì – to place; to arrange temporary shelterFollow me on Instagram: fangfang.chineselearning !

Send us a textThe Spinsters gather round the holiday table for a feast cooked up from some of the fiction we've consumed over the years! Ingredients: discussions about the flavor of milk-bones, lint chicken, and, of course, human food. Whoops while we clean up after our big meal we should correct our repeated falsehood that in the Twilight saga they drink human blood when it's simply a Styrofoam cup filled with blood of unknown origin. Happy Holidays!Check us out at @clashyspinsters on Twitter and Instagram, or send us an email at clashypodcast@gmail.com. Shout out to @robotjellyfish for our logo and Chris Marino for our jingle!

This week on Truth to Power, we bring you a community conversation about reducing single use disposable plastics in foodservice and the food safety codes that impact efforts to avoid disposables. This conversation was hosted by Beyond Plastics Louisville at their November 20th meeting, and it featured Alison Schleck, Environmental Health Supervisor for the Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness Food Safety Program. Alison engaged in a rich dialogue with Beyond Plastics Louisville members about our food safety codes as they apply to reusable containers for food and drink. Learn more about Beyond Plastics Louisville at https://www.facebook.com/groups/beyondplasticslouky. Watch a recording of the evening at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SniWcZrwwA The next meeting of Beyond Plastics Louisville will be a dinner gathering on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 at 6pm at Mashup Food Hall in NuLu (750 E Jefferson St.). Join fellow plastic haters at this in-person gathering for dinner, followed by a discussion of the new book, The Problem with Plastic, by Beyond Plastic's founder, Judith Enck. These are some things we learned from our conversation with Alison: • The Food Safety Program oversees 4,600 food facilities in the Louisville metro area, with 17 inspectors and 2 supervisors. Most facilities have two inspections per year. • When restaurant customers dine in, they may bring reusable containers for their leftovers, as long as the restaurant staff do not handle the containers. For other carryouts, the kitchen cannot accept a customer's container. • For coffee shops, the vendor may prepare beverages and transfer into the customer's container, as long as the transfer is contamination free, with no direct contact. Shops, such as Starbucks, may choose whether or not they will allow customers to bring their containers. • Another option (used at some college campuses and in other locales) would be for a food service to provide food in a reusable container that the customer would return to the business or a third party service to be cleaned and sanitized before being reused. • Pam asked if the food safety code addressed possible chemical or microplastic contamination from plastic packaging, containers, or utensils. Alison said the food code standards require that food contact surfaces not allow “migration of deleterious substances' into food. The current code prevents contact with some metals such as lead, copper, or galvanized metal. Regarding concerns about PFAS, Alison said the code specifies that cooking surfaces with Perfluoroalkyl non-stick coatings may not be scratched. • Pam also asked about processes where food is cooked in plastic. These are currently allowed by the code. • Beatriz asked about the process for adopting or changing the KY food code. Who decides which federal code is followed? Alison answered that the KY Dept. for Public Health adopts the code. This department is under the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. • Beatriz also asked if the Metro Food Safety Program regulates food trucks. She has noticed that most food trucks seem to use Styrofoam containers. Food trucks are regulated and inspected, but Styrofoam is allowed by the code. • Arnita asked about educational resources for a friend who teaches fifth graders. Pam recommended programs from kNOw Waste Louisville. Both Pam and Shayla recommended the film Microplastic Madness. On Truth to Power each week, we gather people from around the community to discuss the state of the world, the nation, the state, and the city! It's a community conversation like you won't hear anywhere else! Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 4pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://forwardradio.org

Shaun Seaman from Mushroom Material recently won the Next Fest 2025 pitch competition run by the Sustainable Business Network and this is his pitch.  I attended the event and enjoyed the discussions there.   Thanks to SBN for the chance to share this with others as it is a good example of innovative and new ways of doing business and thinking!   Website: https://www.mushroommaterial.com/  His bio: Shaun is Founder & CEO at Mushroom Material. Mushroom Material is replacing expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) with a high-performance, home-compostable alternative made from mycelium (mushrooms). The material matches expanded polystyrene in impact resistance, thermal protection, and acoustic insulation. The end product is fully circular, microplastic-free, and safe for home composting. More interviews www.theseeds.nz 

Turkey Troubles, Styrofoam Scandals & Baby Fever (Sort Of) This week on Mismatched, Danna and Kristin covered everything from Thanksgiving turkey drama to nostalgic fast-food cups. 

Hey Guys, Today's episode is going to make decluttering your plastic containers one of the easiest wins in your kitchen. We're not doing this based on emotion or guilt — we're doing it based on facts, safety, and what the research actually says about old and degraded plastics. Keep: #1, #2, #5 (in good condition) Toss: Anything pre-2010, cloudy, scratched, warped, lidless, or mismatched Avoid for heat: #1, #2, #4, #5, #7 unless labeled microwave-safe Never use for heat: #3 (PVC), #6 (Styrofoam), older #7 To-go containers: Fine for cold storage short-term; don't microwave them and don't keep them for months Know someone who needs a little nudge in the kitchen? Share this episode with them. If you want to listen to all of the kitchen Series begin with episode 289. If this episode helps you, share it with someone who's been feeling overwhelmed by their home. Tap the three dots, hit "share episode," and send it to them.  Looking forward to seeing your progress in the free Facebook group.  To join click below... https://www.facebook.com/groups/declutteryourchaos/ Let's connect:

Hey Guys, Today's episode is going to make decluttering your plastic containers one of the easiest wins in your kitchen. We're not doing this based on emotion or guilt — we're doing it based on facts, safety, and what the research actually says about old and degraded plastics. Keep: #1, #2, #5 (in good condition) Toss: Anything pre-2010, cloudy, scratched, warped, lidless, or mismatched Avoid for heat: #1, #2, #4, #5, #7 unless labeled microwave-safe Never use for heat: #3 (PVC), #6 (Styrofoam), older #7 To-go containers: Fine for cold storage short-term; don't microwave them and don't keep them for months Know someone who needs a little nudge in the kitchen? Share this episode with them. If you want to listen to all of the kitchen Series begin with episode 289. If this episode helps you, share it with someone who's been feeling overwhelmed by their home. Tap the three dots, hit "share episode," and send it to them.  Looking forward to seeing your progress in the free Facebook group.  To join click below... https://www.facebook.com/groups/declutteryourchaos/ Let's connect:

Hello you beautiful people!We start the show with a version of A Christmas Carol and it's the audio release that Mickey's Christmas Carol is based on. The full title is An Adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol by The Disney Players. You can watch it here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCilmU2_NQMNext up it's Do You Hear What I Hear? and Bob Baker is looking at Polystyrene, or is it Styrofoam? You decide.Then we have our yearly visit with our US correspondent Scott Newman from The Tinsel Tunes and Christmas Morning Podcasts. This year we look at a few of the many versions of Do They Know It's Christmas. Here's the videos:Band Aid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH-xd5bPKTABand Aid 2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMZjb3YEUQ8Band Aid 20https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UZ--sD_DBQBand Aid 30https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w7jyVHocTkLad Baby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIS3wNkQ_UEKeith Lemonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_05wWm6Mp0Then Bob Baker is back with Where Are You Christmas? and he's looking at Harry Potter stuff in the UK. Check out Bob's podcast here:  https://4fpodcast.buzzsprout.com/We end with The Christmas Quiz. I managed 8, let me know how you got on.Get in touch:Email: totalchristmas@gmail.comWeb: totalchristmaspodcast.comMerry Christmas!

You don't want to miss this crazy secret a listener revealed! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CTL Script/ Top Stories of November 14th Publish Date: November 14th   Pre-Roll: From the Ingles Studio Welcome to the Award-Winning Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast  Today is Friday, November 14th and Happy Birthday to Alec John Such I’m Peyton Spurlock and here are the stories Cherokee is talking about, presented by Times Journal Canton hears from residents on proposed 28-home neighborhood Retired Cherokee County firefighter dies after cancer battle Wellstar opens new GI clinic at Cherokee Health Park Plus, Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on pesticides We’ll have all this and more coming up on the Cherokee Tribune-Ledger Podcast, and if you’re looking for Community news, we encourage you to listen and subscribe!  Commercial: STRAND THEATRE STORY 1: Canton hears from residents on proposed 28-home neighborhood The Canton City Council is set to vote Dec. 4 on a proposal to build a 28-home subdivision on Fate Conn Road, but not without some serious pushback from locals. At a Nov. 6 public hearing, residents raised concerns about traffic, flooding, and the loss of greenspace. Earl Darby didn’t hold back: “We’ve had fatalities on that road... we don’t need more cars until there’s a plan to fix it.” Others echoed worries about stormwater runoff and privacy buffers. The developer, Legacy Design and Development, says they’ll address runoff with a stormwater system, but specifics? Still TBD. STORY 2: Retired Cherokee County firefighter dies after cancer battle Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services is grieving the loss of retired Lt. Dave Burnaugh, who passed away after a relentless fight with cancer. Burnaugh, who retired in September, was diagnosed in 2022 with a Stage 3 brain tumor and a Stage 1 kidney tumor. Despite the odds, he returned to duty last summer after 10 months, greeted by a hero’s welcome from his CCFES family and beyond. Known for his faith, humility, and unwavering dedication, Burnaugh mentored countless firefighters during his nearly two decades of service. His legacy? It’s one of compassion, leadership, and love. STORY 3: Wellstar opens new GI clinic at Cherokee Health Park Last week, Wellstar Health System and the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce celebrated a big milestone at Cherokee Health Park—the addition of gastroenterology services. The ribbon-cutting for the new GI Suite took place Nov. 5, though the clinic has been seeing patients since September, with procedures starting in October. “This expansion is all about bringing expert care closer to home,” said Christine Beam, Wellstar’s executive director of health parks. The GI team includes Drs. Inder Tandon, Margaret Morrison, and Nidah Khakoo, offering care for everything from liver issues to digestive disorders. Cherokee Health Park just keeps growing—one-stop care, right in Holly Springs. We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.874.3200 for more info.    We’ll be right back. Break: Ingles Markets 2 STORY 5: Woodstock hosting two recycling events on Saturday  Woodstock is hosting not one, but two recycling events this Saturday, Nov. 15, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Woodstock City Church (150 Ridgewalk Parkway). It’s a chance to declutter and do some good for the planet—win-win, right? The “’Tis the Season to Be Green!” event is open to everyone and will take electronics, cardboard, batteries, eyeglasses, and more. Plus, free paper shredding (up to 10 boxes). They’re also collecting gently used items for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Meanwhile, Woodstock residents can drop off hazardous waste—paint, chemicals, Styrofoam—at a separate area. Registration required at LiveThrive.org/Woodstock. And now here is Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on pesticides Commercial: We’ll have closing comments after this.   COMMERCIAL: STRAND THEATRE   SIGN OFF –   Thanks again for hanging out with us on today’s Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, or the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties. Read more about all our stories and get other great content at www.tribuneledgernews.com Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network Show Sponsors: www.ingles-markets.com Strand Marietta – Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scotty B confesses to trafficking 1,000 illegal coffee cups across state lines — with Nate as his unsuspecting accomplice. Plastic bags, fireworks, and K-Y jelly taxes also make shocking cameos.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode we sit down with Sheridan and Ryan from Red Stick Financial. We discuss why going with a local lender can give you more flexibility, as well as a HOT debate on if party cups should be made out of plastic or Styrofoam. Tune in!Check out Red Stick Financial here: https://www.redstickfinancial.com/Sponsors: PB&J Productions, Velocity Partners, Coretechs, Falaya, and Lake Men's Health CenterThe Patty-G Show website: ⁠https://thepattygshow.com/⁠#explorebatonrouge #batonrouge #batonrougepodcast #thepattygshow #onlylouisiana #visitbatonrrouge #louisianatravel #podcast #localpodcast #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #vodcast #batonrougebusiness #batonrougeentrepreneur

Good Morning BT with Bo Thompson and Beth Troutman | Tuesday, November 4th, 2025. 6:05 Beth’s Song of the Day | Election Day 2025! 6:20 Replay: Mick Mulvaney - NYC Mayor race and nationwide redistricting | Breaking: Former VP Dick Cheney passes away at 84 6:35 GMBT questions longevity of Beth's Styrofoam cup... from yesterday's lunch 6:50 RAM Biz Update; Charlotte gets first Michelin star 7:05 Guest: Andy Dulin (Election Day poll correspondent) 7:20 Former VP Dick Cheney passes away at 84 7:35 Guest: Kenny Smith (Former Charlotte City Councilman) - Charlotte Election day preview 7:50 Kenny Smith cont. 8:05 Guest: Joel Ford (Former NC State Senator) - Local election preview cont 8:20 GMBTeam Fantasy Football league update 8:35 Dirty Restaurant Tuesday with Mark Garrison 8:50 Breaking Brett Jensen - Election day coverage 9:05 Guest: Former Gov. Pat McCrory - Local elections 9:20 Former Gov. Pat McCrory cont. - National elections/midterm outlook 9:35 Guest: Scott Padgett (Former Mayor of Concord) - Concord election day latest 9:50 Show wrapSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Heidi McDonald and Jason Stoner, the passionate duo behind Foodies of Lafayette and the Lafayette Community Fridge Program, join Discover Lafayette. Their mission blends a love for local restaurants with compassion for those facing food insecurity — all while promoting dignity, kindness, and connection within the Lafayette community. The Origin of Foodies of Lafayette Heidi McDonald founded Foodies of Lafayette as a Facebook group to celebrate good restaurants and people in the region, with one caveat — no negativity allowed. “I basically have two careers at this point,” she shared. “I don't think that I fully comprehended in the beginning what it could be, what that impact could be. Jason came on board early on and made me see some things that I didn't — just how it could grow, the organicness of the friendships that were happening and the power behind that.” With over 112,000 followers at the time of recording this interview (and 113,700 a week later), Foodies of Lafayette has become a true culinary movement that uplifts both local restaurants and the people who enjoy them. The Birth of the Lafayette Community Fridge The Lafayette Community Fridge Program came under Foodies' umbrella in late 2024. Jason explained, “The Lafayette Community Fridge was started in 2021 by another group of individuals. By the end of last year, only a couple of people were left, and Erinn Quinn, reached out to us and said, ‘Hey, would you like to take this over as a Foodies thing?'” Jason admitted he felt an instant calling: “I really wanted to take this on. Heidi let me have it. I said, ‘I'll handle most of the work, but I really want this.' So she allowed me to have this baby, and it's dear to me.” Through Foodies' reputation and community reach, people came forward to help. Jason said, "One of our first needs was to collect $30 a month for the electricity at McMillan's Pub to run the utilities for the fridge. We don't want Robin to come out of her pocket. We need to provide that. We had so many people donating that $30 and they're like, how much do you need? Some would say, here's six months. That paid us through 2026.“ How the Fridge Works The Lafayette Community Fridge has two locations — at McMillan's Pub (2905 East Simcoe) in Lafayette and T-Boy's in Abbeville. It is open 24/7 to anyone who needs food or wishes to contribute. And it is not just food that is needed; the sites also need power, regular maintenance, and clean outs. Jason described how restaurants donate fresh, ready-to-eat meals rather than just shelf-stable goods. “There's so much waste,” he said. “Why can't we just be a little more efficient with organizing where it goes instead of the trash can?” He praised Toby and Joey Lagneaux, owners of Lagneaux's, for stepping up early: “We've got a lot of food coming off the buffet daily. Toby said, ‘Absolutely. We've been throwing it away. I would rather it go somewhere.'” To keep meals safe, Taylor's International donated 6,000 three-compartment Styrofoam containers, and Seth Randall of Logic Refrigeration provided a double commercial fridge. “No one touches the food between Lagneaux's and the fridge,” Jason emphasized. “It's picked up and taken directly to the fridge.” Community Participation and Dignity For Heidi, the heart of the program is dignity. “It's not less dignified to need something,” she said. “We just don't know people's stories. What if they're getting it for their entire family? Or for a whole neighborhood because there's only one vehicle? We all have the ability to give back. It's not going to hurt us.” She continued, “Just because someone is coming and picking up a meal from the fridge doesn't necessarily mean that they don't have anything to offer, because we can all help each other. It's been really beautiful watching people come to pick up dinner and then realizing, ‘Oh, I have an extra can of something at home that I haven't been using...

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Sept. 29, 2025 - After imposing restrictions on Styrofoam food containers and packing peanuts, the state is going to prohibit the sale of disposable polystyrene containers next year. We consider this environmental initiative with Jeremy Cherson, associate director of government affairs for Riverkeeper.

OA1190 - “You have the right to remain silent.” Anyone who grew up on American crime dramas can recite the rest of these famous warnings from memory, but do you know the whole story of Miranda v. Arizona (1966)? In today's entry in our “Still Good Law” series Matt and Jenessa voluntarily waive their rights, cautiously accept a cigarette and a Styrofoam cup of bad coffee from an alcoholic cop with a dark past, and spill everything they know about the most important criminal case in Supreme Court history. Matt provides the background on Ernesto Miranda's literal life (and death) of crime and the circumstances of his arrest, interrogation, and appeal to the Warren Court while Jenessa breaks down the science of false confessions and why not just having but knowing our Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights is so important for all of us. Oral arguments and decision in Miranda v. Arizona (1966) Miranda: The Story of America's Right to Remain Silent, Gary Stuart (2008) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

The MTA is bracing for a possible Long Island Rail Road strike next week as five unions representing nearly half the workforce vote on whether to walk out. Meanwhile, the City Council has passed legislation requiring the city to track and report thousands of supportive housing units that remain vacant despite record demand in shelters. Also, Clifton Park resident Joseph Macken has gone viral after completing a 20-year project: a 50-by-30-foot scale model of New York City built from balsa wood and Styrofoam. Plus, in this week's transportation segment, we break down what's at stake in the LIRR contract talks and the state comptroller's new audit of subway service.

He Still Has his Old Dunkin Styrofoam Cup by Maine's Coast 93.1

The Storm does not cover athletes or gear or hot tubs or whisky bars or helicopters or bros jumping off things. I'm focused on the lift-served skiing world that 99 percent of skiers actually inhabit, and I'm covering it year-round. To support this mission of independent ski journalism, please subscribe to the free or paid versions of the email newsletter.WhoGreg Pack, President and General Manager of Mt. Hood Meadows, OregonRecorded onApril 28, 2025About Mt. Hood MeadowsClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: The Drake Family (and other minority shareholders)Located in: Mt. Hood, OregonYear founded: 1968Pass affiliations:* Indy Pass – 2 days, select blackouts* Indy+ Pass – 2 days, no blackoutsClosest neighboring U.S. ski areas: Summit (:17), Mt. Hood Skibowl (:19), Cooper Spur (:23), Timberline (:26)Base elevation: 4,528 feetSummit elevation: 7,305 feet at top of Cascade Express; 9,000 feet at top of hike-to permit area; 11,249 feet at summit of Mount HoodVertical drop: 2,777 feet lift-served; 4,472 hike-to inbounds; 6,721 feet from Mount Hood summitSkiable acres: 2,150Average annual snowfall: 430 inchesTrail count: 87 (15% beginner, 40% intermediate, 15% advanced, 30% expert)Lift count: 11 (1 six-pack, 5 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 3 doubles, 1 carpet – view Lift Blog's inventory of Mount Hood Meadows' lift fleet)About Cooper SpurClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: The Drake FamilyLocated in: Mt. Hood, OregonYear founded: 1927Pass affiliations: Indy Pass, Indy+ Pass – 2 days, no blackoutsClosest neighboring U.S. ski areas: Mt. Hood Meadows (:22), Summit (:29), Mt. Hood Skibowl (:30), Timberline (:37)Base elevation: 3,969 feetSummit elevation: 4,400 feetVertical drop: 431 feetSkiable acres: 50Average annual snowfall: 250 inchesTrail count: 9 (1 most difficult, 7 more difficult, 1 easier)Lift count: 2 (1 double, 1 ropetow – view Lift Blog's inventory of Cooper Spur's lift fleet)Why I interviewed himVolcanoes are weird. Oh look, an exploding mountain. Because that seems reasonable. Volcanoes sound like something imagined, like dragons or teleportation or dinosaurs*. “So let me get this straight,” I imagine some puzzled Appalachian miner, circa 1852, responding to the fellow across the fire as he tells of his adventures in the Oregon Territory, “you expect me to believe that out thataways they got themselves mountains that just blow their roofs off whenever they feel like it, and shoot off fire and rocks and gas for 50 mile or more, and no one never knows when it's a'comin'? You must think I'm dumber'n that there tree stump.”Turns out volcanoes are real. How humanity survived past day one I have no idea. But here we are, skiing on volcanoes instead of tossing our virgins from the rim as a way of asking the nice mountain to please not explode (seriously how did anyone make it out of the past alive?).And one of the volcanoes we can ski on is Mount Hood. This actually seems more unbelievable to me than the concept of a vengeful nuclear mountain. PNW Nature Bros shield every blade of grass like they're guarding Fort Knox. When, in 2014, federal scientists proposed installing four monitoring stations on Hood, which the U.S. Geological Survey ranks as the sixth-highest threat to erupt out of America's 161 active volcanoes, these morons stalled the process for six years. “I think it is so important to have places like that where we can just step back, out of respect and humility, and appreciate nature for what it is,” a Wilderness Watch official told The New York Times. Personally I think it's so important to install basic monitoring infrastructure so that thousands of people are not incinerated in a predictable volcanic eruption. While “Japan, Iceland and Chile smother their high-threat volcanoes in scientific instruments,” The Times wrote, American Granola Bros say things like, “This is more proof that the Forest Service has abandoned any pretense of administering wilderness as per the letter or spirit of the Wilderness Act.” And Hood and the nation's other volcanoes cackle madly. “These idiots are dumber than the human-sacrifice people,” they say just before belching up an ash cloud that could take down a 747. When officials finally installed these instrument clusters on Hood in 2020, they occupied three boxes that look to be approximately the size of a convenience-store ice freezer, which feels like an acceptable trade-off to mass death and airplanes falling out of the sky.I know that as an outdoor writer I'm supposed to be all pissed off if anyone anywhere suggests any use of even a centimeter of undeveloped land other than giving it back to the deer in a treaty printed on recycled Styrofoam and signed with human blood to symbolize the life we've looted from nature by commandeering 108 square feet to potentially protect millions of lives from volcanic eruption, but this sort of trivial protectionism and willful denial that humans ought to have rights too is the kind of brainless uncompromising overreach that I fear will one day lead to a massive over-correction at the other extreme, in which a federal government exhausted with never being able to do anything strips away or massively dilutes land protections that allow anyone to do anything they can afford. And that's when we get Monster Pete's Arctic Dune Buggies setting up a casino/coal mine/rhinoceros-hunting ranch on the Eliot Glacier and it's like thanks Bros I hope that was worth it to stall the placement of gardenshed-sized public safety infrastructure for six years.Anyway, given the trouble U.S. officials have with installing necessary things on Mount Hood, it's incredible how many unnecessary ones our ancestors were able to build. But in 1927 the good old boys hacked their way into the wilderness and said, “by gum what a spot for snoskiing” and built a bunch of ski areas. And today 31 lifts serve four Mt. Hood ski areas covering a combined 4,845 acres:Which I'm just like, do these Wilderness Watch people not know about this? Perhaps if this and similar groups truly cared about the environmental integrity of Mount Hood they would invest their time, energy, and attention into a long-term regional infrastructure plan that identified parcels for concentrated mixed-use development and non-personal-car-based transit options to mitigate the impact of thousands of skiers traveling up the mountain daily from Portland, rather than in delaying the installation of basic monitoring equipment that notifies humanity of a civilization-shattering volcanic eruption before it happens. But then again I am probably not considering how this would impact the integrity of squirrel poop decomposition below 6,000 feet and the concomitant impacts on pinestand soil erosion which of course would basically end life as we know it on planet Earth.OK this went sideways let me try to salvage it.*Whoops I know dinosaurs were real; I meant to write “the moon landing.” How embarrassing.What we talked aboutA strong 2024-25; recruiting employees in mountains with little nearby housing; why Meadows doesn't compete with Timberline for summer skiing; bye-bye Blue double, Meadows' last standing opening-year chairlift; what it takes to keep an old Riblet operating; the reliability of old versus new chairlifts; Blue's slow-motion demolition and which relics might remain long term; the logic of getting a free anytime buddy lift ticket with your season pass; thoughts on ski area software providers that take a percentage of all sales; why Meadows and Cooper Spur have no pass reciprocity; the ongoing Cooper Spur land exchange; the value of Cooper Spur and Summit on a volcano with three large ski areas; why Meadows hasn't backed away from reciprocal agreements; why Meadows chose Indy over Epic, Ikon, or Mountain Collective; becoming a ski kid when you're not from a ski family; landing at Mountain Creek, New Jersey after a Colorado ski career; how Moonlight Basin started as an independent ski area and eventually became part of Big Sky; the tension underlying Telluride; how the Drake Family, who has managed the ski area since inception, makes decisions; a board that reinvests 100 percent of earnings back into the mountain; why we need large independents in a consolidating world; being independent is “our badge of honor”; whether ownership wants to remain independent long term; potential next lift upgrades; a potential all-new lift line and small expansion; thoughts on a better Heather lift; wild Hood weather and the upper limits of lift service; considering surface lifts on the upper mountain; the challenges of running Cascade Express; the future of the Daisy and Easy Rider doubles; more potential future expansion; and whether we could ever see a ski connection with Timberline Lodge.Why now was a good time for this interviewIt's kind of dumb that 210 episodes into this podcast I've only recorded one Oregon ep: Timberline Lodge President Jeff Kohnstamm, more than three years ago. While Oregon only has 11 active ski areas, and the state ranks 11th-ish in skier visits, it's an important ski state. PNW skiers treat skiing like the Northeast treats baseball or the Midwest treats football or D.C. treats politics: rabid beyond reason. That explains the eight Idaho pods and half dozen each in Washington and B.C. These episodes hit like a hash stand at a Dead show. So why so few Oregon eps?Eh, no reason in particular. There isn't a ski area in North America that I don't want to feature on the podcast, but I can't just order them online like a pizza. Relationships, more than anything, drive the podcast, and The Storm's schedule is primarily opportunity driven. I invite folks on as I meet them or when they do something cool. And sometimes we can connect right away and sometimes it takes months or even years, even if they want to do it. Sometimes we're waiting on contracts or approvals so we can discuss some big project in depth. It can take time to build trust, or to convince a non-podcast person that they have a great story to tell.So we finally get to Meadows. Not to be It-Must-Be-Nice Bro about benefits that arise from clear deliberate life choices, but It must be nice to live in the PNW, where every city sits within 90 minutes of a ripping, open-until-Memorial-Day skyscraper that gets carpet bombed with 400 annual inches but receives between one and four out-of-state visitors per winter. Yeah the ski areas are busy anyway because they don't have enough of them, but busy with Subaru-driving Granola Bros is different than busy with Subaru-driving Granola Bros + Texas Bro whose cowboy boots aren't clicking in right + Florida Bro who bought a Trans Am for his boa constrictor + Midwest Bro rocking Olin 210s he found in Gramp's garage + Hella Rad Cali Bro + New Yorker Bro asking what time they groom Corbet's + Aussie Bro touring the Rockies on a seven-week long weekend + Euro Bro rocking 65 cm underfoot on a two-foot powder day. I have no issue with tourists mind you because I am one but there is something amazing about a ski area that is gigantic and snowy and covered in modern infrastructure while simultaneously being unknown outside of its area code.Yes this is hyperbole. But while everyone in Portland knows that Meadows has the best parking lot views in America and a statistical profile that matches up with Beaver Creek and as many detachable chairlifts as Snowbasin or Snowbird and more snow than Steamboat or Jackson or Palisades or Pow Mow, most of the rest of the world doesn't, and I think they should.Why you should ski Mt. Hood Meadows and Cooper SpurIt's interesting that the 4,845 combined skiable acres of Hood's four ski areas are just a touch larger than the 4,323 acres at Mt. Bachelor, which as far as I know has operated as a single interconnected facility since its 1958 founding. Both are volcanoes whose ski areas operate on U.S. Forest Service land a commutable distance from demographically similar markets, providing a case study in distributed versus centralized management.Bachelor in many ways delivers a better experience. Bachelor's snow is almost always drier and better, an outlier in the kingdom of Cascade Concrete. Skiers can move contiguously across its full acreage, an impossible mission on Balkanized Hood. The mountain runs an efficient, mostly modern 15 lifts to Hood's wild 31, which includes a dozen detachables but also a half dozen vintage Riblet doubles with no safety bars. Bachelor's lifts scale the summit, rather than stopping thousands of feet short as they do on Hood. While neither are Colorado-grade destination ski areas, metro Portland is stuffed with 25 times more people than Bend, and Hood ski areas have an everbusy feel that skiers can often outrun at Bachelor. Bachelor is closer to its mothership – just 26 minutes from Bend to Portland's hour-to-two-hour commutes up to the ski areas. And Bachelor, accessible on all versions of the Ikon Pass and not hamstrung by the confusing counter-branding of multiple ski areas with similar names occupying the same mountain, presents a more clearcut target for the mainstream skier.But Mount Hood's quirky scatterplot ski centers reward skiers in other ways. Four distinct ski areas means four distinct ski cultures, each with its own pace, purpose, customs, traditions, and orientation to the outside world. Timberline Lodge is a funky mix of summertime Bro parks, Government Camp greens, St. Bernards, and its upscale landmark namesake hotel. Cooper Spur is tucked-away, low-key, low-vert family resort skiing. Meadows sprawls, big and steep, with Hood's most interesting terrain. And low-altitude, closest-to-the-city Skibowl is night-lit slowpoke with a vintage all-Riblet lift fleet. Your Epic and Ikon passes are no good here, though Indy gets you Meadows and Cooper Spur. Walk-up lift tickets (still the only way to buy them at Skibowl), are more tier-varied and affordable than those at Bachelor, which can exceed $200 on peak days (though Bachelor heavily discounts access to its beginner lifts, with free access to select novice areas). Bachelor's $1,299 season pass is 30 percent more expensive than Meadows'.This dynamic, of course, showcases single-entity efficiency and market capture versus the messy choice of competition. Yes Free Market Bro you are right sometimes. Hood's ski areas have more inherent motivators to fight on price, forge allegiances like the Timberline-Skibowl joint season pass, invest in risks like night and summer skiing, and run wonky low-tide lift ticket deals. Empowering this flexibility: all four Hood ski areas remain locally owned – Meadows and T-Line by their founding families. Bachelor, of course, is a fiefdom of Park City, Utah-based Powdr, which owns a half-dozen other ski areas across the West.I don't think that Hood is better than Bachelor or that Bachelor is better than Hood. They're different, and you should ski both. But however you dissect the niceties of these not-really-competing-but-close-enough-that-a-comarison-makes-sense ski centers, the on-the-ground reality adds up to this: Hood locals, in general, are a far more contented gang than Bachelor Bros. I don't have any way to quantify this, and Bachelor has its partisans. But I talk to skiers all over the country, all the time. Skiers will complain about anything, and online guttings of even the most beloved mountains exist. But talk to enough people and strong enough patterns emerge to understand that, in general, locals are happy with Mammoth and Alpine Meadows and Sierra-at-Tahoe and A-Basin and Copper and Bridger Bowl and Nub's Nob and Perfect North and Elk and Plattekill and Berkshire East and Smuggs and Loon and Saddleback and, mostly, the Hood ski areas. And locals are generally less happy with Camelback and Seven Springs and Park City and Sunrise and Shasta and Stratton and, lately, former locals' faves Sugarbush and Wildcat. And, as far as I can tell, Bachelor.Potential explanations for Hood happiness versus Bachelor blues abound, all of them partial, none completely satisfactory, all asterisked with the vagaries of skiing and skiers and weather and luck. But my sense is this: Meadows, Timberline, and Skibowl locals are generally content not because they have better skiing than everyplace else or because their ski areas are some grand bargain or because they're not crowded or because they have the best lift systems or terrain parks or grooming or snow conditions, but because Hood, in its haphazard and confounding-to-outsiders borders and layout, has forced its varied operators to hyper-adapt to niche needs in the local market while liberating them from the all-things-to-everyone imperative thrust on isolated operations like Bachelor. They have to decide what they're good at and be good at that all the time, because they have no other option. Hood operators can't be Vail-owned Paoli Peaks, turning in 25-day ski seasons and saying well it's Indiana what do you expect? They have to be independent Perfect North, striving always for triple-digit operating days and saying it's Indiana and we're doing this anyway because if we don't you'll stop coming and we'll all be broke.In this way Hood is a snapshot of old skiing, pre-consolidation, pre-national pass, pre-social media platforms that flung open global windows onto local mountains. Other than Timberline summer parks no one is asking these places to be anything other than very good local ski areas serving rabid local skiers. And they're doing a damn good job.Podcast NotesOn Meadows and Timberline Lodge opening and closing datesOne of the most baffling set of basic facts to get straight in American skiing is the number of ski areas on Mount Hood and the distinction between them. Part of the reason for this is the volcano's famous summer skiing, which takes place not at either of the eponymous ski areas – Mt. Hood Meadows or Mt. Hood Skibowl – but at the awkwardly named Timberline Lodge, which sounds more like a hipster cocktail lounge with a 19th-century fur-trapper aesthetic than the name of a ski resort (which is why no one actually calls it “Timberline Lodge”; I do so only to avoid confusion with the ski area in West Virginia, because people are constantly getting Appalachian ski areas mixed up with those in the Cascades). I couldn't find a comprehensive list of historic closing dates for Meadows and Timberline, but the basic distinction is this: Meadows tends to wrap winter sometime between late April and late May. Timberline goes into August and beyond when it can. Why doesn't Meadows push its season when it is right next door and probably could? We discuss in the pod.On Riblet clipsFun fact about defunct-as-a-company-even-though-a-couple-hundred-of-their-machines-are-still-spinning Riblet chairlifts: rather than clamping on like a vice grip, the end of each chair is woven into the rope via something called an “insert clip.” I wrote about this in my Wildcat pod last year:On Alpental Chair 2A small but vocal segment of Broseph McBros with nothing better to do always reflexively oppose the demolition of legacy fixed-grip lifts to make way for modern machines. Pack does a great job laying out why it's harder to maintain older chairlifts than many skiers may think. I wrote about this here:On Blue's breakover towers and unload rampWe also dropped photos of this into the video version of the pod:On the Cooper Spur land exchangeHere's a somewhat-dated and very biased-against-the-ski-area infographic summarizing the proposed land swap between Meadows and the U.S. Forest Service, from the Cooper Spur Wild & Free Coalition, an organization that “first came together in 2002 to fight Mt. Hood Meadows' plans to develop a sprawling destination resort on the slopes of Mt. Hood near Cooper Spur”:While I find the sanctimonious language in this timeline off-putting, I'm more sympathetic to Enviro Bro here than I was with the eruption-detection controversy discussed up top. Opposing small-footprint, high-impact catastrophe-monitoring equipment on an active volcano to save five bushes but potentially endanger millions of human lives is foolish. But checking sprawling wilderness development by identifying smaller parcels adjacent to already-disturbed lands as alternative sites for denser, hopefully walkable, hopefully mixed-use projects is exactly the sort of thing that every mountain community ought to prioritize.On the combination of Summit and Timberline LodgeThe small Summit Pass ski area in Government Camp operated as an independent entity from its 1927 founding until Timberline Lodge purchased the ski area in 2018. In 2021, the owners connected the two – at least in one direction. Skiers can move 4,540 vertical feet from the top of Timberline's Palmer chair to the base of Summit. While Palmer tends to open late in the season and Summit tends to close early, and while skiers will have to ride shuttles back up to the Timberline lifts until the resort builds a much anticipated gondola connecting the full height, this is technically America's largest lift-served vertical drop.On Meadows' reciprocalsMeadows only has three season pass reciprocal partners, but they're all aspirational spots that passholders would actually travel for: Baker, Schweitzer, and Whitefish. I ask Pack why he continues to offer these exchanges even as larger ski areas such as Brundage and Tamarack move away from them. One bit of context I neglected to include, however, is that neighboring Timberline Lodge and Mount Hood Skibowl not only offer a joint pass, but are longtime members of Powder Alliance, which is an incredible regional reciprocal pass that's free for passholders at any of these mountains:On Ski Broadmoor, ColoradoColorado Springs is less convenient to skiing than the name implies – skiers are driving a couple of hours, minimum, to access Monarch or the Summit County ski areas. So I was surprised, when I looked up Pack's original home mountain of Ski Broadmoor, to see that it sat on the city's outskirts:This was never a big ski area, with 600 vertical feet served by an “America The Beautiful Lift” that sounds as though it was named by Donald Trump:The “famous” Broadmoor Hotel built and operated the ski area, according to Colorado Ski History. They sold the hotel in 1986 to the city, which promptly sold it to Vail Associates (now Vail Resorts), in 1988. Vail closed the ski area in 1991 – the only mountain they ever surrendered on. I'll update all my charts and such to reflect this soon.On pre-high-speed KeystoneIt's kind of amazing that Keystone, which now spins seven high-speed chairlifts, didn't install its first detachable until 1990, nearly a decade after neighboring Breckenridge installed the world's first, in 1981. As with many resorts that have aggressively modernized, this means that Keystone once ran more chairlifts than it does today. When Pack started his ski career at the mountain in 1989, Keystone ran 10 frontside aerial lifts (8 doubles, 1 triple, 1 gondola) compared to just six today (2 doubles, 2 sixers, a high-speed quad, and a higher-capacity gondy).On Mountain CreekI've talked about the bananas-ness of Mountain Creek many times. I love this unhinged New Jersey bump in the same way I loved my crazy late uncle who would get wasted at the Bay City fireworks and yell at people driving Toyotas to “Buy American!” (This was the ‘80s in Michigan, dudes. I don't know what to tell you. The auto industry was falling apart and everybody was tripping, especially dudes who worked in – or, in my uncle's case, adjacent to (steel) – the auto industry.)On IntrawestOne of the reasons I did this insane timeline project was so that I would no longer have to sink 30 minutes into Google every time someone said the word “Intrawest.” The timeline was a pain in the ass, but worth it, because now whenever I think “wait exactly what did Intrawest own and when?” I can just say “oh yeah I already did that here you go”:On Moonlight Basin and merging with Big SkyIt's kind of weird how many now-united ski areas started out as separate operations: Beaver Creek and Arrowhead (merged 1997), Canyons and Park City (2014), Whistler and Blackcomb (1997), Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley (connected via gondola in 2022), Carinthia and Mount Snow (1986), Sugarbush and Mount Ellen (connected via chairlift in 1995). Sometimes – Beaver Creek, Mount Snow – the terrain and culture mergers are seamless. Other times – Alpine and the Palisades side of what is now Palisades Tahoe – the connection feels like opening a store that sells four-wheelers and 74-piece high-end dinnerware sets. Like, these things don't go together, Man. But when Big Sky absorbed Moonlight Basin and Spanish Peaks in 2013, everyone immediately forgot that it was ever any different. This suggests that Big Sky's 2032 Yellowstone Club acquisition will be seamless.**Kidding, Brah. Maybe.On Lehman BrothersNearly two decades later, it's still astonishing how quickly Lehman Brothers, in business for 158 years, collapsed in 2008.On the “mutiny” at TellurideEvery now and then, a reader will ask the very reasonable question about why I never pay any attention to Telluride, one of America's great ski resorts, and one that Pack once led. Mostly it's because management is unstable, making long-term skier experience stories of the sort I mostly focus on hard to tell. And management is mostly unstable because the resort's owner is, by all accounts, willful and boorish and sort of unhinged. Blevins, in The Colorado Sun's “Outsider” newsletter earlier this week:A few months ago, locals in Telluride and Mountain Village began publicly blasting the resort's owner, a rare revolt by a community that has grown weary of the erratic Chuck Horning.For years, residents around the resort had quietly lamented the antics and decisions of the temperamental Horning, the 81-year-old California real estate investor who acquired Telluride Ski & Golf Resort in 2004. It's the only resort Horning has ever owned and over the last 21 years, he has fired several veteran ski area executives — including, earlier this year, his son, Chad.Now, unnamed locals have launched a website, publicly detailing the resort owner's messy management of the Telluride ski area and other businesses across the country.“For years, Chuck Horning has caused harm to us all, both individually and collectively,” reads the opening paragraph of ChuckChuck.ski — which originated when a Telluride councilman in March said that it was “time to chuck Chuck.” “The community deserves something better. For years, we've whispered about the stories, the incidents, the poor decisions we've witnessed. Those stories should no longer be kept secret from everyone that relies on our ski resort for our wellbeing.”The chuckchuck.ski site drags skeletons out of Horning's closet. There are a lot of skeletons in there. The website details a long history of lawsuits across the country accusing Horning and the Newport Federal Financial investment firm he founded in 1970 of fraud.It's a pretty amazing site.On Bogus BasinI was surprised that ostensibly for-profit Meadows regularly re-invests 100 percent of profits into the ski area. Such a model is more typical for explicitly nonprofit outfits such as Bogus Basin, Idaho. Longtime GM Brad Wilson outlined how that ski area functions a few years back:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Plastic foam pollution continues to be a widespread and dangerous threat to ocean health. In this episode of How to Protect the Ocean, Oceana's Christy Leavitt breaks down their 2025 report exposing the true environmental cost of expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) used in foodware across the US. With shocking statistics and real-life examples, Christy explains how foam harms marine ecosystems, why it's rarely recycled, and how local and national bans are gaining momentum. Plastic pollution solutions begin with better policies, informed choices, and collective action. Christy walks us through Oceana's campaign victories, the data behind foam bans, and how individuals can help push corporations and governments to make the switch to reusable and compostable alternatives. Whether you're a policymaker, a concerned citizen, or someone just learning about this issue, this episode will give you clear actions to take and hope for change. Link to report: https://usa.oceana.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/04/2025-Foam-Report-FINAL.pdf Link to Oceana: https://usa.oceana.org/   Join the Undertow: https://www.speakupforblue.com/jointheundertow Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube    

Kiera is joined by Ryan Isaac of Dentist Advisors to dive into DSOs. They discuss such questions as: Are they the best financial choice for your practice? The best life choice? Are the horror stories true? And so many more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I am freaking jazzed for today's podcast. It has been way too long. Me and this guest talk quite often on like life and personal and business, but podcasting it's been a hot minute. I've got Ryan Isaac from Dentist Advisors, my personal advisor, one of my dearest friends. I think we're siblings in another life. Ryan, welcome to the show today. How are you?   Ryan Isaac (00:07) Mm-hmm.   Thank   Thank you.   I'm really good. just realized I was trying to hit mute and cough, but I hit like a chapter marker instead. So there you go. To your listeners or your ⁓ editing team, then there's a chapter marker while I'm coughing. So in your intro. Yeah. Tis the season.   Kiera Dent (00:35) You're welcome. Yeah, that's fine. I'm   okay with it. This is real life. We're sitting on, I mean, Ryan, you're sitting on the couch. I should get like my posh chair. I've been considering changing up my podcasting zone. Yeah, of course. All of us can see it. We're excited for that.   Ryan Isaac (00:40) Hahaha   Can I show you? Can I just give you a little vibe check here? I mean, it's actually, that's   the ocean. I'm on a little summer getaway for a second. So yeah. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (00:54) my gosh.   That's amazing. So that's Ryan's   life. Ryan's living his rich life over there. He's like truly. So, okay. If you're new to the podcast, Ryan is my personal advisor. Like truly he actually works on. We talk about my life. He's helped me make some really good decisions and not make some bad decisions. So I feel like financial advisors. My best advice is you gotta just find someone you trust. And I know Ryan is way more conservative than me, but cares about me as an individual so strongly. And Ryan, huge kudos to you.   And so we talk about it a lot, but something we talk often is like, what's our rich life? And I remember Ryan for years, you were like living in your van, truly driving to California all the time to be by the beach, because you love surfing so much. So it just makes me so happy to see that you are living your best life by the ocean. You're doing what you teach all of your clients to do of living their version of a best life. Something that we try to do in dentistry and dental team too, like, hey, let's help your business provide you the best dream life you want. So that's Ryan.   Ryan Isaac (01:36) Yeah.   Thank you.   Yeah, yeah.   Yeah, thank you. And there's no there's no right way to do that. I mean, everyone has their own thing that's worth the money or worth spending on. We're just kind of joking around about this, too. There are people who will sit in ⁓ small rentals or apartments on millions of dollars because to them having lots of security and liquidity is more valuable than houses or everyone's got something different. But, you know, we're all we're all chasing it, hopefully.   Kiera Dent (01:57) Catch y'all.   I think it's called the like emotional ROI and what helps you sleep at night in your financial world. So Ryan and I usually get on the podcast and we'll talk about finances. I mean, obviously dentist advisors, Ryan do a spiel. What is dentist advisors? Just so people know. I think you guys are financial advisors for dentists specifically. I'm not a dentist, but I can speak honestly, but a spiel. And then we're going to actually go like a hard left turn of what we're going to talk about today. Like really.   Ryan Isaac (02:26) Ooh. Uh-huh.   Yeah. Thank you. ⁓   Yeah, yeah, our   on ramps coming up here really soon. We got to get over it. We got to get into the right lane. Dentist advisor started ⁓ almost A Team years ago now with me and Reese Harper. Shout out to Reese Harper. And yeah, we were dedicated to being ⁓ an independent fiduciary fee only ⁓ advisor for dentists to manage investments and give financial advice. Ultimately,   Kiera Dent (02:51) Yep.   Shout out to Reese.   Ryan Isaac (03:17) you know, a dentist path through school and debt and taxes and all the stuff they go through, ⁓ you know, buying a practice, building businesses. There's no reason why all of that should not pay off every it should pay off for every dentist. There is enough money to be made in dentistry. And so our job really and you kind of said this with the you know, in the intro, ⁓ I really do feel like just protecting my clients, you know, and that's a philosophy that we've.   built into our business. There's no reason why dentists shouldn't make it to the life they want and to the finish line financially. so, you know, ⁓ it's more about consistent, small, good decisions for long periods of time and avoiding like a few big mistakes that could derail you forever. So yeah, we have a custom financial planning process, ⁓ a lot of like reporting and data, and we just manage and track ⁓ dentist finances and make sure they end up in a good spot, safe and healthy and   Happy, hopefully.   Kiera Dent (04:15) which I love about you guys, Ryan, and I really think you guys do a great job. And this is something you've taught me. And we have a friend who said a great quote that I feel should be your quote. I can't give it like, so you can take it and like make your version. But they said like regular investing is like vanilla ice cream. It won't make anyone jealous, but it always tastes good. And I felt like that's such a great way to look at how you've taught me how to invest. ⁓ At the end of the day, it's just a small, consistent thing. So I think Dentist advisors does really well. And Ryan, something you've done for me. ⁓   Ryan Isaac (04:24) well. Okay, okay.   Mm.   Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   .   Kiera Dent (04:44) Like it's so dumb, but I know you're watching me and I know like when I, like you're really not watching me, but I feel like you're watching me.   Ryan Isaac (04:49) Yeah, well, let's   hold that disclaimer here for a second. I see your numbers. I see your accounts. I see your emails. Every time you save money, I'm like, Kiera, good job in the email thread. Gold stars. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (04:53) Like, I know he's not, like, he watches my account for sure.   That's   all it is. And I just know having Ryan there where I need to send it in every single month of what we're going to invest. We've talked about the plan has been such a game changer for me. So that's why I love Dentist Advisors. And like we said, we're now like taking our off ramp because Ryan and I want to talk about DSO sales. I think this definitely implies to a financial advisor. We have a lot of clients that we send to Dentist Advisors. We work such hand in hand with both sides. Like we love what you guys do. You love what we do. It's   Ryan Isaac (05:19) Mm-hmm.   Kiera Dent (05:30) Truly like the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich or whatever your favorite. If you want this to be meat and cheese, peanut butter and honey, whatever it is, I think it's the best duo. Yeah, exactly. That is the best. Captain Crunch, but would you rather Captain Crunch or Reese's? Or.   Ryan Isaac (05:37) Captain Crunch in 2 % milk, you know.   No. I would actually say   fruity or cocoa pebbles, to be honest with you. Or cinnamon toast crunch. Can we arrive there? Okay.   Kiera Dent (05:52) We both disagree on that. So cool. Okay, can handle Golden   Grahams or are we like back to the s'mores run? Remember the s'mores Golden Graham?   Ryan Isaac (06:00) Yeah, I do remember   the scores. How are we like not landing on the same one at all? What about honey butches of oats? Wow. Okay. ⁓   Kiera Dent (06:05) It's okay. That's fine. I'm not like the biggest serial fan and I go through phases. I love Lucky Charms, but I'm not joking.   Those marshmallows give me the chills. Like I can't crunch into it without it being like full body chills. So I don't know. weird. But back on this. So we've actually had a lot of clients that are debating of do I sell? I sell to a DSO? And I'm like, talk to freaking Ryan.   Ryan Isaac (06:18) Yeah, it's like biting Styrofoam. Okay. All right. Okay. Okay. Anyway. Yeah. Yeah.   you   Kiera Dent (06:32) I don't know what you want to do for your retirement. I have no clue how this is gonna impact you with your taxes. I don't know all the stuff, but what I do know is I'm a freaking miracle girl, so we're gonna get you top dollar for your cell, but like let's talk DSO. Cause also like DSO to not DSO, like I don't know Ryan, there's a million things. So let's Rift. You wanted to talk about this. I love this. Let's do it.   Ryan Isaac (06:41) Yes.   Yeah, yeah. Yeah,   well, and so you said something a few minutes ago about ⁓ dentist investments. And yeah, like our job is to help manage investment money for people ⁓ in a really long term kind of boring way, if we're being honest. But yeah, it's very yeah, it's just like it'll be there forever. Just let it do its thing. But the biggest investment any owner is going to have is their practice. And that is the thing   Kiera Dent (07:08) vanilla ice cream ish.   Ryan Isaac (07:18) is why you and a team is so important because the thing they should protect above everything is their practice investment, their business investment. There's nothing more impactful to a dentist's entire life and not just their money, but their entire lifestyle, probably their mental health, their wellbeing, where and who they spend their time with. So it is by far the most important factor in all of this. And so the world that we're in now is that   DSOs are an option to sell to, to work with, to become a part of. They are in some shape or form, you know, supposed to become the majority of the industry in the future. I think that's a broad category. think the category is more like group practice will become the majority of the industry. I'd love to hear what stats you've heard and what you actually see. think people talk about, you know, 60 to 70 % consolidation in the industry.   becoming some kind of DSO or group practice. ⁓ yeah.   Kiera Dent (08:19) Yeah, I was actually at an AI conference with   that just literally this last week. And they said that they're estimating 65 % of the market will become in the DSL world in the next like five to 10 years. So I think a lot of people are expecting, which is so funny to me because I remember, gosh, I think I was Mark, this is a long time ago, we were at the dental college. And so we're probably talking like,   Ryan Isaac (08:32) Uh-huh.   Yeah, okay.   Kiera Dent (08:46) 2018, 2019, I remember talking to the students, like, what do you think is gonna happen? And I'm like, I know I'm unpopular, because even Mark wasn't on board with this. And I'm like, I think I'm unpopular, but I'm pretty confident DSOs will be the future. And they're like, you're full of it. They're like, there's no way. And I'm like, I mean, I'm not emotionally invested in this, but if I look at what's going on, my husband's in healthcare. This is what happened to pharmacies. This is what happened to mom and pop shops, like for medical.   Ryan Isaac (08:57) Mmm.   Yeah.   Kiera Dent (09:14) I cannot think for one second the dentistry and with the EBITDA like offers that you're getting, it doesn't matter. And Jason, were talking about this the other night. I'm like, even if doctors want to have a legacy practice, that's great. You sell to this person, but this person now is younger. They have more debt and DSOs is like one bad day and this DSOs right on their doorstep. They're going to sell. Like it's just, I mean, you've got to some really strong guts around you to not think about a DSO. And I think DSOs,   Ryan Isaac (09:42) Hmm.   Kiera Dent (09:44) can often hit you at emotional times. Like Brian, you know me. There have been times that I told you like someone offered me a buck for Dental A Team, they could have it like one bad day. It's just like shirt. Like everybody has it in business ownership. So I think that that's where the DSOs are super attractive to people. But like I was talking to an office yesterday who's considering working with us and they're like have a one year buyout. And they're like, we're thinking about doing this DSO. And I was like, all right, but like what's your ultimate end game? What are you trying to achieve?   Ryan Isaac (09:46) Mm-hmm.   yeah. Yeah. yeah. We all have those days. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (10:12) you met with other people to talk about DSOs, there are other options and he's like, well, it's too big for these partners to buy. I'm like, well, it's actually not like there's ways for partners to buy you out if you want. think it's just, DSOs feel like the easy button, but I don't know if they're really easy. And I think that that's where I'm a little bit on the fence and I'm super jazzed for us to rift on. Is it really the best financial choice? Is it the best life choice? I don't know, Ryan, you know, the finances more than I do. just.   Ryan Isaac (10:14) It's on.   Mm-hmm.   Same. Yeah.   Yeah.   Kiera Dent (10:40) I do good job of helping people get their assets where they want them to be. So they have choices and options of what they want to do.   Ryan Isaac (10:42) You do.   Yeah, so I think, you know, it makes a lot of logical sense, especially the way it started with DSOs, that it would have gobbled up a lot of the industry. Hearing 70 % made a lot of sense to me. Maybe we're just in a dip in a lull, which we totally have become, we've entered into that because of the, you know, the debt and rate situation that happened over last few years in inflation and, you know, just interest rates. Money got really expensive. It was hard for a lot of companies to grow across a lot of industries.   And, uh, but, and I, I'm, uh, I want to say these statistics correctly, uh, from smarter people than me in the DSO space. I think there's something like maybe, you know, 350 to 400 technical DSOs in the country right now. And I've heard in multiple sources that up to a third of them are in some kind of financial receivership right now. Meaning, and I know you've seen this with clients too. DSOs have grown and they purchase and they borrowed money and then   rates hit them and they grew too fast. They went ahead of themselves and they defaulted. And ⁓ there are some major DSOs, huge ones that I did not ever think would happen that went into default that are going bankrupt that are changing ownership. ⁓ People are losing their equity money, they're not going to get their payouts. ⁓ And they're they don't own their practices anymore. I mean, there, we have some clients in that situation. So   Yes to the consolidation in the future of that because of just that's the nature of economy sometimes in industries. And I don't know if it's going to hit 70. I don't know. It makes me wonder. ⁓ Those multiples are down a lot than they than they used to be. And they'll probably you know, they'll probably fluctuate, come back up a little bit more when money gets easier. ⁓   Kiera Dent (12:22) I don't know anything.   Ryan Isaac (12:36) Also, I think people are getting a little bit wiser to it. Do you see this? I mean, let's say three to five years ago, it was the most exciting thing to get an offer sheet across your desk and be like, know, some multiple of you, but this is insane, I'm done. I do find people way more hesitant and not as excited about that number anymore. What have you seen with that when people see those initial numbers?   Kiera Dent (12:47) Made it.   think people are way smarter. think the grads coming out of school have been trained on business a lot more than say dentists 20, 34 years ago are trained and not to say dentists 20, 30 years ago weren't. I just think it wasn't like we weren't talking EBITDAs. You weren't selling like this. So you didn't there was no need for it. ⁓ And I think in the past, I think the reason people are more skeptical right now, Ryan, is because they're hearing the like horror stories coming through. So people are like, hold on. Maybe it's not as like   Ryan Isaac (13:12) It's different. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (13:28) rosy as it was. I honestly like DSOs might be a little bit of dentistry's dirty secret. Like there's a small piece of me feeling that way and not all DSOs I'm not here to blanket statement it, but I do think there's like, think the dentist is the one getting ripped off in the whole scenario. like, because Ryan helped me, this is where I, guys welcome. This is what Ryan and I used to talk about off camera, but I'm just going to like have the conversation here because I'm curious. So your clients, okay, so hold on.   Ryan Isaac (13:43) Mm-hmm.   Yeah, let's do it. Yeah, huh?   Kiera Dent (13:58) answer your question, no, they're not as excited about it. And also I think that they're being flooded with a bajillion offers. And so almost like overwhelm of who the heck do I have? Who do I trust? Who do I know? 400 DSOs out there. They're being bombarded every single day. I have heard dentists tell me they get four to five offers every single day of a DSO, which is why I'm like one bad day, you click open an email and like bottom, bottom, there you go. So I do think Bron and Man.   Ryan Isaac (14:02) Yes.   Yep. Yeah.   Yeah, you're done. Like, yeah, that's the buyer. Yeah, take it. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (14:22) Brandon Moncrief with Dental Transitions is probably the smartest DSO man I've met and I think you and I have circled. He's really brilliant on like who he knows offers that you can get like he kind of knows how to navigate the DSO world of what you want, which I think is awesome. But what I'm curious on Ryan. Okay, so you said you have clients. So when you sell to a DSO, there's lots of different makeups of how they can do these deals for you. But let's say there's I think the most standard one I usually hear is they pay you about 50 % of your practice is worth like you're giving it to them.   Ryan Isaac (14:24) Yes.   Yeah, I still send people there. Yeah.   Mm-hmm.   Kiera Dent (14:52) You also have them 50 % in equity in their business, hoping like with stock shares, hoping that it builds and that's like basically your payout. So it helps with tax. It helps with like future investments of the EBITDA. Those are the things that they're going to be dealing with. But my question is, so like your clients, they sold, they don't own their practices anymore. They're an associate there now ⁓ and they're getting paid. They don't have to do the management, billing's taken off of them, hiring, all that. But let's say these, so let's say I sold to Ryan Isaac DSO.   Ryan doesn't have a DSO just for clarity, but let's pretend I'm dentist. We got to make sure I don't want him getting in trouble. He's a financial advisor. So Ryan doesn't have it. okay, we're selling, okay, lies. We're selling it to Captain Crunch DSO. All right, let's just go safe. Captain Crunch DSO. Captain Crunch buys me. I'm now, I got my 50 % payout. have 50 % equity in Captain Crunch DSO and I'm now working as a dentist there, but I don't own my practice anymore.   Ryan Isaac (15:23) Yeah, just so we're clear here. Yeah, yeah. I've highly regulated. Yeah, might be in trouble for that.   Kiera Dent (15:49) Captain Crunch DSO is growing, growing, growing. Everything's looking good. I've got my stock in it. Captain Crunch loses its funding. They go bankrupt. What happens to me? Because odds are they go bankrupt. Another like lucky charms DSO is going to come buy Captain Crunch. Like they get a penny, dollar. What happens to me as the dentist when Captain Crunch goes under, but then lucky charms comes to buy me. How does that work for me as a dentist?   Ryan Isaac (16:02) Yeah.   Yeah,   I'm watching that happen right now with a gigantic national specialty DSO with some clients. And what has happened is that their equity money is likely gone. So they got their payout money.   Kiera Dent (16:19) Mm-hmm.   Even   with Lucky Charms coming in to buy it. My equity money's gone because it was with Captain Crunch. Do you love that I did cereal for you?   Ryan Isaac (16:28) Thank   I love it. It's so good. And I'm trying   to like, like who's more evil in this hierarchy, you know?   Kiera Dent (16:35) I think Lucky Charms isn't more evil. Lucky Charms is one who capitalized. They saw a dill. They don't care about the dentist. I'm not saying that they don't, but it's like hungry, hungry hippos. One goes out, someone's going to come buy it all. That's what they're going to do.   Ryan Isaac (16:37) Who's more well capitalized? Yeah.   Yeah.   Yeah.   Yeah, this   would be such a good question for Brandon again, and I'll just second that every time someone has questions about deals, or they want to compare things, ⁓ or get to know the space a lot more, I send them to Brandon. So just find Brandon Monacree, if he's on all over the internet and all of our content. Yeah, there you go. So it depends on the structure of the deal. It depends on the fine print and the paperwork. ⁓ In the ones I'm seeing right now, these dentists   Kiera Dent (17:04) dentaltransitions.com. Yeah, he's everywhere.   Ryan Isaac (17:17) lot, their practices are not there. So their practices are still gone. And they likely are not going to they're definitely not going to get any return on their equity. Some of them depending on how early they got in might get their equity back or, or parts of their equity back. But a lot of it's just, you know, when another company when a big financial company comes in to save a bankrupt company, it's ruthless, you know, I mean, they're they're cutting and they're scrapping   as much as they possibly legally can. they'll do that, of course, because that's good business for them. So what I'm seeing, and again, I'll just say that it's probably different in every single scenario of this. But what I'm seeing is one that happens. ⁓ These dentists are losing their practices, they're not getting any return on their equity money, and many of them probably won't even get their full equity back. Luckily, some of my clients that I'm thinking of were in early enough and the fine print of their deals was good enough that they're going to get some of their equity money back.   Kiera Dent (17:48) course.   Ryan Isaac (18:15) ⁓ that's it. They're done. So what really happened in that transaction was they got front loaded a certain amount of years of income, paid some taxes, paid off their debts and lost their practices and worked a job for three or four years at a very low salary compared to what they produce. ⁓ many of them got really burned out, bombed out, kind of lost their fire and spark for the work. ⁓   And they're back to square one. Some of them have enough money to be finished. What is interesting though is even the ones who have enough money to be finished are still contemplating starting or buying another practice where they can legally and doing like a really chill lifestyle two day a week thing. Really common. Other people will fully lose their equity. And in a situation, again, back to your point, a lot of people are   Kiera Dent (18:54) and   Ryan Isaac (19:05) Maybe it's not as excited about this. The multiples aren't what they were. Then they could come back. I don't know. A lot of people just say the longer this goes, the smaller the multiples will become, which is, yeah. No, we're definitely not. And so now we're talking about an offer where someone's coming to you to take away like your main, main asset, your cash cow, the biggest thing in your whole life. They're going to front load five or six years of income. You have to pay taxes and pay off your debt with that money first.   Kiera Dent (19:13) which I would agree on that completely. I don't think we're half as high.   Ryan Isaac (19:33) The deals that you mentioned, some are 50-50. I've seen them in thirds where it's like third buyout, third earn out where you have to keep producing and then a third equity. I've seen them 70-30, 60-40. They can really be any shape or size. ⁓ Yeah, but they're smaller. And so now we're talking about, you know, five or six years of front loaded income. You pay taxes, pay off your debt, and then you just hope that this company that bought you and essentially what's happening if you think about it.   Kiera Dent (19:48) They really are.   Ryan Isaac (20:02) You're taking like seven figures of money and you're putting it into a single stock. You're investing into a single stock and it's a very small privately held company. I know it feels safe and secure because it's your field, it's dentistry, know, all these things are, but you're taking seven figures of your money and you're putting into one single company where right now maybe up to a third of these companies are failing.   Kiera Dent (20:08) Thank   Ryan Isaac (20:30) It's not not a gamble, you know, and the whole kicker in all these deals, as you know, and your audience knows, Kiera is all in that equity piece. Everything else is just front loading your income for the next five or six years and taking away your ownership. And then, you know, really changing the nature of your career and your work. And it really does change people. It changes. And I'm not saying it's always for the worse, but it is change changes, teams changes, the patient experience changes, the culture and the vibe.   Kiera Dent (20:34) huh. ⁓ huh.   Mm-hmm.   Ryan Isaac (21:00) And so if that one little equity piece does not pan out the way that they say it's going to, ⁓ you know, that's the part that everyone's kind of wising up to. And if you're under, let's say, your late 50s, if you're younger than your late 50s, I think it's becoming a tougher decision for people to make. in late 50s or above, it's kind of like, I'm done anyway in three or four or five years. Might as well get top dollar.   even if the equity doesn't fully pan out all the way, it might be more than a private buyer. But even then, I've seen the math on a lot of things and like, it's close. And yeah, you've seen it all too. So yeah, it's tough. It's tough to watch the ones that fail. ⁓ Some of these, some of these, and you've probably seen, we're not going to name anybody, but you've probably seen them too. Huge practices, multi-location, huge DSOs that now...   Kiera Dent (21:25) Mm-hmm.   Agreed.   Mm-hmm.   Ryan Isaac (21:52) own these practices. And okay, here's a question for you. What do you think is going to happen, let's say 10 years down the road or longer, when all these DSOs have been bought by the next company and been bought by the next company? And then in the end, some like third and fourth party removed private equity firm, international private equity firms holding 10s of 1000s of dental practices around the country?   What is that like in the industry? mean, you're in the practice as you know that you're like in the heartbeat of that. What does that mean for the industry? What does that feel like? Does it feel weird?   Kiera Dent (22:27) It does feel weird. And I think this is where I've been, I don't know, Ryan, you know me. just sit over here and think of ideas all day long. I've been like, how can we like, hi, I'm Kiera. I live in Reno, Nevada right now. It's like, how can some, I feel like I'm like Dorothy in Kansas right now. It's fine. It wasn't the destination, but it ended up being, it's fine. It's got really great. No state income tax. All right. That's really one of the main reasons we're here. It's not.   Ryan Isaac (22:42) I like to write now by the way. Just a little shout out. like to write now. Yeah. Loud and clear. Yeah.   Yeah, fine. It's pretty in some seasons. There you   Kiera Dent (22:55) But it's okay. We have Lake Tahoe. ⁓   Ryan Isaac (22:55) go. Okay. Okay. All right. Okay.   Kiera Dent (22:59) But only half of Lake Tahoe because California owns the other half. So it's okay. But I've thought about it. like, how can, like, it's like I'm Dorothy in Wizard of Oz right now. It's like, how can we somehow influence these private equity firms? And there might be no way. But these are the questions I think of often, because I do think if we're not careful, it will radically shift the way dentistry is done. And it will turn into a business rather than into our   Ryan Isaac (23:02) Yeah, you're half.   Okay.   Kiera Dent (23:24) our healthcare profession. I mean, I look at modern medicine, my husband's in it and it is a freaking drill machine. Like his number one thing was patient productivity and they had to have so many patients, otherwise they were going to fire providers. And their providers worked hard. They weren't getting paid what they like want to get paid. And so I'm actually watching in healthcare, lots of my friends in healthcare, nurse practitioners, doctors branch off and go open up their own practices because they're sick of working in modern medicine. So I'm like,   Ryan Isaac (23:24) Mm-hmm.   Yeah.   Kiera Dent (23:51) if we can look at modern medicine and see how the healthcare system has been working and how can we do something now as like you said, third, fourth remove private equity, owning all these dental practices, like is there a path? And I don't know, right? Like this is I feel like I'm like Dorothy sitting in Kansas of like how on earth can we influence it? But I'm like, if enough brilliant people start thinking this way, what can we do now to show that you can be profitable and ethical and still give great dentistry where we're not having to like,   Ryan Isaac (24:08) Hmm.   Yeah.   Kiera Dent (24:21) not running it like a private equity business, but still showing. so Britt was like, we need to become the Wegmans. Like, have you been like up north, like Wegmans is an amazing grocery store. They're not the biggest, but they still are ethical. And I'm like, if we even had a few private equity that's third and fourth removed that would still run practices that way, I think dentistry would still feel the same. Something else though, that I think of like new dentists coming in that I think is really paramount is you've got to look at the future of the industry. I think the current doctors,   Ryan Isaac (24:39) Mm-hmm.   Kiera Dent (24:50) that have been in dentistry have like safeguarded and kept dentistry like we're healthcare when we want to be and we're not healthcare when it doesn't benefit us. Like we literally have straddled the spine line. It's still a little bit of the wild wild west dentistry is not as regulated as far as like our fees and like what we're able to charge in every single practice and like insurance is schmuck. get it. But I'm like, you also only have $2,000 of max most of the time that we're dealing with rather than it being like a hundred percent of what your patient base is and like what the patients are paying out. So I'm like,   Ryan Isaac (25:11) Yeah.   Kiera Dent (25:19) I feel the pioneers of dentistry have actually done a really good job of setting it up to where dentistry is still very profitable. It's still able to be its own thing that I'm like, let's, again, I feel like I'm like Dorothy sitting on my soap box in the middle of prairie fields and saying like, hey, why don't we take a pause and just think of like, what's the future of dentistry as now the future pioneers of dentistry? And what are we going to do to our profession? Yes, there's top dollar. Yes, there's things about it, but is there a way to influence?   and make sure that the integrity of dentistry can maintain long-term. I have no answer to that, but again, this is Kiera Dent sitting on my podcast where I think that there is a voice and an influence and like on Dentist Advisors podcast, is there a way that we can influence our industry in ways that will protect and still pay out? Because I'm like, even if you don't get the 10X EBITDA, you still can get a freaking great payout if you do your life right to where you can be financially set up.   Ryan Isaac (25:51) Mm-hmm. ⁓   Kiera Dent (26:17) still be able to sell your practice, not have to sell it in ways that could potentially hurt the industry. I'm not saying one's the right answer or the wrong answer. There's no judgment on my side. It's just, let's maybe think and consider how it could influence. Can we get people that could be private equity higher up that could help protect it? Those are things that, and again, I'm just Kiera Dent here in Reno,   Ryan Isaac (26:22) Mm-hmm. Yeah.   Same, okay.   Okay. Yes.   Kiera Dent (26:38) Yeah, of course. And for everyone listening, thank you for listening and we'll catch you next time.   Ryan Isaac (26:37) Thank you.   Kiera Dent (26:42) the Dental A Team Podcast.  

Plus: Hanover water update; Styrofoam ban takes effect on July 1 — and more Central Virginia news.   

Hour 1 Segment 1Tony starts the show talking about President Trump saying, “I don’t care what she said”, about Tulsi Gabbard with Israel/Iran conversations. Tony also talks about bunker busters. Hour 1 Segment 2Tony talks about Terry Moran saying it’s ok for a reporter to be biased. Hour 1 Segment 3Tony talks about President Trump saying the U.S. has complete and total control over the skies in Iran. Tony also talks about President Trump posting ‘unconditional surrender’ and knows where the ‘supreme leader’ is hiding. Hour 1 Segment 4Tony wraps up the first hour of the show by talking about Chick-fil-A getting rid their Styrofoam cups.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 Segment 1Tony starts the show talking about President Trump saying, “I don’t care what she said”, about Tulsi Gabbard with Israel/Iran conversations. Tony also talks about bunker busters. Hour 1 Segment 2Tony talks about Terry Moran saying it’s ok for a reporter to be biased. Hour 1 Segment 3Tony talks about President Trump saying the U.S. has complete and total control over the skies in Iran. Tony also talks about President Trump posting ‘unconditional surrender’ and knows where the ‘supreme leader’ is hiding. Hour 1 Segment 4Tony wraps up the first hour of the show by talking about Chick-fil-A getting rid their Styrofoam cups. Hour 2 Segment 1Tony starts the second hour of the show talking about Andrew Cuomo running for mayor of New York. Tony also talks about a post from Kevin Bass article from the New York Times saying the COVID-19 policy being a part of social justice. Hour 2 Segment 2Tony talks about Senator Alex Padilla on the events after his arrest from the Kristi Noem speech. Tony also talks about New York mayoral candidate Brad Lander getting detained by ICE for escorting an illegal immigrant out of court. Hour 2 Segment 3Tony talks about President Donald Trump on the latest between Israel and Iran. Tony also talks about the latest on the big, beautiful bill. Tony later talks about Stephen Colbert saying how no one attended the Trump/army parade. Hour 2 Segment 4Tony wraps up the second hour of the show talking about a group of 1500 Birthright Israel participants on a cruise ship setting sail for Cyprus after an organized exit from Israel. Hour 3 Segment 1Tony starts the final hour of the show talking about the latest between Israel and Iran and how President Donald Trump is responding to it. Tony also talks more about the bunker buster. Hour 3 Segment 2Tony talks about Ilhan Omar and the Democrats being broken and having no policy. Hour 3 Segment 3Tony talks about nearly one million illegal immigrants have ‘self-deported’ under President Trump, which has led to higher wages. Tony also talks about Air India flight turns back due to 'technical issue' days after deadly crash. Hour 3 Segment 4Tony wraps up another edition of the show talking about Tulsi Gabbard not being in the meeting after the Israel and Iran conflict.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All those to-go cups and food containers aren’t actually Styrofoam but those cups and Styrofoam are both forms of foam polystyrene, one of the rare materials that isn’t biodegradable. Which is a problem, because we make – and throw away – so much of it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Most Annoying Sounds In The World full 226 Thu, 29 May 2025 14:43:56 +0000 2LvKr5FJQapofDXsU7YeJwzlDes8ki3y styrofoam,worst sounds,nails on chalkboard,chewing,slurping,music,society & culture,news Kramer & Jess On Demand Podcast styrofoam,worst sounds,nails on chalkboard,chewing,slurping,music,society & culture,news The Most Annoying Sounds In The World Highlights from the Kramer & Jess Show. 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. Music Society & Culture News False https://player.amperwavepodcasting.com?feed-link=https%

New Orleans is a city of neighborhoods. 73 of them. Each one of these neighborhoods has its own flavor, its unique characteristics, and residents who can tell you about people who were brought up there and went on to do something notable. Claus Sadlier grew up in Old Metairie. It’s possible you don’t know who Claus is. If you’ve stopped at a coffee shop to grab a cup of joe to go - Claus is the guy who invented the paper cup you got your coffee in. Back in the early 90’s, when to-go coffee was still sold in Styrofoam cups, Claus created an insulated paper cup. And sold the design to Dixie Cups for $170 million. Claus went on to invent other stuff as well. Then in 2013, having conquered the world, he followed his heart back to New Orleans. He bought a home in the French Quarter and decided to use some of his good fortune to celebrate a singular New Orleans neighborhood and its claim to fame: prostitution. In September 2024, after years of research, planning and design, Claus Sadlier opened The New Orleans Storyville Museum. It’s been many years since New Orleans had a legal sex-worker district. But we’re still a city that proudly runs on our reputation for fun - from restaurants, bars, and drinking on the street, to music festivals and corporate conventions. A lot of this hospitality and tourist industry – and its allied occupations like security, sanitation, and infrastructure maintenance – is powered by people who don’t make a lot of money. As the city gets more prosperous, these folks, who are the heart and soul of New Orleans’ economy, don’t benefit from gentrification if they don’t own a house. And if they’re renting, they can end up being priced out of their neighborhood. That’s where Oji Alexander’s business, People’s Housing Plus, comes in. People's Housing Plus is a property development company. They buy land, build houses, and sell or rent them. But only to low and moderate income New Orleanians. By controlling every step of the process, from financing through construction, houses are affordable. And with a stewardship program that continues after a sale, continued maintenance is affordable too. It’s sometimes hard to describe to people who don’t live in New Orleans exactly what makes it such a unique place. Yes, it’s physically beautiful to look at, the food’s great, there’s always good music, it’s relatively affordable, and the climate is – with a few exceptions – mostly pleasant. But none of that adequately explains the actual experience of living here. The next time you’re looking for a way to explain what that’s like, you might point to this episode of Out to Lunch. You could describe it like this: “In a historic building on the most exclusive tree-lined avenue in the city, as streetcars rattle by, a successful design engineer who invented the paper coffee cup and built a museum celebrating jazz, gambling and prostitution, has lunch with a property developer building houses for low income citizens – and nobody’s in a hurry to get anywhere when it’s over.” Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Orleans. You can find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at itsneworleans.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Download for Mobile | Podcast Preview | Full Timestamps Expédition 33's Endless Build Possibilities As Game News Crumbles, The Castle Reluctantly Soldiers On Are We Already In The Slowest Industry Crash? The Future of Devil May Cry: Remake or Sequel? Watch live: twitch.tv/castlesuperbeast Go to http://shopify.com/superbeast to sign up for your $1-per-month trial period. - Go to http://auraframes.com/ and use code SUPERBEAST to get $35-off plus free shipping on their best-selling Carver Mat frame. - Go to http://factormeals.com/castle50off and use code castle50off to get 50% off and free shipping on your first box.  - Click this link https://sponsr.is/bootdev_BLTZZ and use my code BLTZZ to get 25% off your first payment for boot.dev. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Director Guillaume Broche: "it would've taken one "25 years" to navigate all the bureaucracy in a AAA studio just to get started on the game." Polygon sold to GameRant owner Valne, tSome staffers have been laid off or will no longer be with the publication. Fandom Blows Up Giant Bomb Microsoft Raises the Price of All Xbox Series Consoles, Xbox Games Confirmed to Hit $80 This Holiday Silksong is set to be fully playable at a museum exhibit in Australia on September 18, meaning that's a good chance the game will release before that exhibit debuts. Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 2 Gears of War: Reloaded announced for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC - Gematsu

Greg Bishop discusses how there are three weeks left in the Illinois Legislature's calendar with budget details not yet fully revealed. The legislature is advancing a ban on polystyrene food containers with others discussing regulating the hemp industry.Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx

People are ingesting plastic from a variety of sources. State lawmakers are looking to address one facet of the problem, by phasing out plastic food containers in Montana.

In this episode of Next Level University, hosts Kevin Palmieri and Alan Lazaros break down a simple shift in thinking that helps you stop overthinking and start doing. They'll show you how to tell the difference between actions that truly matter and ones that just feel big in the moment. With relatable stories and practical tips, you'll learn how to push past fear, take action faster, and build the life you want—one brave step at a time.Learn more about:Next Level Group Coaching - https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/group-coaching/Group 18 - Our first call kicks off on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at 5 PM EST, and the group runs for three transformative months. Discount Code for N.L. Group Coaching (30% off): NLULISTENER_____________________NLU is not just a podcast; it's a gateway to a wealth of resources designed to help you achieve your goals and dreams. From our Next Level Dreamliner to our Group Coaching, we offer a variety of tools and communities to support your personal development journey.For more information, please check out our website at the link below.

The "phone eats first" trend is about cooking or ordering your food with an eye toward a visual presentation worth sharing on social media. Author Allyson Reedy has written a new cookbook, The Phone Eats First Cookbook: 50 of Social Media's Best Recipes to Feed Your Feed...and Then Yourself, all about the most viral recipes. Reedy discusses how Instagram and TikTok have changed our food culture and listeners share their favorite recipes that they first saw online.  BIRRIA TACOSDahianna | @_cookingwitdServes 6It was the Instagram post heard 'round the world in 2018, when an L.A. influencer posted a picture of his dinner from a neighborhood quesabirria taco truck. Almost instantly, influencers were scouring their own 'hoods for birria tacos, clamoring for that perfect shot of glistening, griddled tacos being dunked into Styrofoam cups full of dark pools of chile-infused goodness. Talk about gussying up #tacotuesday. Demand skyrocketed, with influencers piquing our interest for a dish that, prior to 2018, was barely known to most outside of Mexico. Birria tacos started popping up on Mexican restaurant menus across the country, and food bloggers began posting recipes for DIY tacos and Frankenfoods like birria ramen. This recipe slow simmers dried guajillo, ancho, and arbol chiles with garlic, onion, oregano, and cumin to out-birria the rest.HASHTAG PAIRING: #birriatacos #tacotime #whenidipyoudip #tacoboutawesome #birriaiswhyimbrokePHOTO TIP: With brownish foods like tacos, add pops of color with onion, cilantro, and lime 2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast6 cloves garlic5 dried guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed5 dried chiles de arbol, stems and seeds removed4 dried ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed4 bay leaves½ medium white onion½ carrot1 tablespoon beef or chicken broth1 tablespoon dried oregano1 tablespoon ground cumin1½ teaspoons sugar1 teaspoon kosher salt12 yellow corn tortillas3 cups grated Chihuahua, Oaxaca, or Monterey Jack cheeseChopped white onion, chopped cilantro, and lime wedges for servingIn a large pot or Dutch oven, combine the beef, garlic, chiles,bay leaves, onion, carrot, and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil overmedium heat, then simmer for 30 minutes. With a slotted spoon or skimmer, remove the garlic, chiles, bayleaves, onion, and carrot and place in a blender. Add about ½ cupof cooking liquid and puree. Add the broth, oregano, cumin, sugar,and salt and blend until thoroughly combined. Strain through afine-mesh sieve back into the pot with the beef and the remainingcooking liquid. Stir to combine, cover, and cook over low heat until the beefshreds with a fork, about 3 hours. Transfer the beef to a cutting board, allow to cool slightly, andshred it with two forks. To make the tacos, heat a cast-iron griddle or skillet overmedium-low heat. Dip a corn tortilla halfway into the broth in thepot. Place on the griddle and top with ¼ cup cheese and about½ cup shredded meat. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of broth to thegriddle, fold the taco, and cook until the cheese melts and the meatsizzles. You can make several tacos at a time. When ready to serve, ladle broth into small individual bowls fordipping and top the broth and the tacos with chopped onion andcilantro. Serve with lime halves on the side.

The new material that is as strong as steel but light as Styrofoam along with the PlayStation Network issue that occurred over the weekend and their plan for compensation. Plus, on This Day in History, the chess match of Man vs. Computer. Scientists Create a Material as Strong as Steel but Light as Styrofoam Using AI | ZME Science Sony Reveals Compensation For All PS Plus Players After PSN Outage | Forbes Sony explains massive PSN outage and details compensation – but many PlayStation gamers are still unhappy | TechRadar Ask PlayStation on X Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess match | May 11, 1997 | HISTORY Contact the show - coolstuffcommute@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices