u/nosecohn

Sorry in advance that this is a bit of a brief rant...

I'm traveling to the US soon and want to book some internal flights, but the Alaska Airlines website blocks access from my country, and apparently many others. According to what I've read, using a VPN is the only way to get around this the regional IP blocking.

I can somewhat understand why companies who only do in-person business in the US would region block, but this is literally a travel company. Many people who live abroad plan trips to the US that include domestic travel. Why would Alaska deliberately make it difficult for all of them to book flights? There has to be a better way to combat bots and such.

I was reading a Politico article today about two Senators from opposing parties and this sentence stuck out to me (emphasis added):

> It’s a major tone shift for the two lawmakers, who have earned a reputation for trying to stay out of the partisan fray since they became their party’s top leaders on the Appropriations Committee in 2023.

To my mind, that should be parties', because it refers to two parties and each lawmaker has become a top leader of her own. But I've stared at it long enough that now I'm second-guessing myself and wondering if parties' itself is even grammatically correct.

Help set me straight. Am I wrong? Is Politico wrong? Are we both?

Thanks.

This is during the Jazz à Juan concert series in Juan-les-Pins and and also Bastille Day celebrations in Cannes.

I'm a guy traveling solo and don't speak French, so if you do, that's a plus. If not, we can muddle through.

Hi all.

For anyone who has been to MadCool before, if I want to get close to Stage 1 for one of the early acts, how early do I need to arrive? And what generally happens between acts on the same stage? Can you move up/back during the break?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

My accountant retired last year, so I've been searching for someone new to prepare my annual US returns, but the quotes I'm getting are quite a bit higher than what I was paying, primarily due to the need to file two 5471s. (My guy was giving me a kind of 'two-for-one' deal, since the companies are barely active and I would send him clear, professional reports.)

So, I've been looking into doing it myself and am wondering if it's worth it, what pitfalls I might face, and what tools could simplify the process.

Alternately, if the people here think me taking this on is not advisable, I'd like to know that too and how you might go about finding the right preparer instead.

Thanks in advance.

I'd never heard of this issue until I came across this comment, but would rather read a good, unbiased summary than watch YouTube videos to learn about it. TIA.