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Congratulations to the contenders moving on to the second series of voting. Even those going home today, you are all losers, no matter what any one else tells you. Remember that. That you even appeared in this contest, that is something no one can ever take away from you.

To some degree, readers voted with their conscience, not their pocketbooks. Few of our readers probably have ever called up the customer service lines for Halliburton, Exxon, or the RIAA. Companies like Clear Channel, U-Haul, Verizon and Walmart, however, have probably more directly impacted their lives as consumers.

Will the final gruesome twosome’s battle be political or pecuniary? Only the vox populi knows. — BEN POPKEN

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