Benjamin Recchie

American cheese needs to be thought of as less of a standalone food and more of an industrial precursor, like bauxite is to aluminum. No other food provides the optimum combination of mildness and low melting point for cheese-based applications like grilled cheese, nacho cheese, etc.

Yeah, big slam on Riefenstahl by comparing her work to this slop.

My daughter begged to watch it and I acquiesced, prepared for the worst. I was pleasantly surprised how clever and well-written it was. Good for them!

(No accounting for kids' tastes, though--her new favorite show is the terrible '80s sitcom Small Wonder.)

The sea otters try to look casual.

YouTube video by FilthyFcker Basil Poledouris - Anvil of Crom

Needs music.

YouTube video by Voodoo God Futurama - Benderama

"Robot, experience this tragic irony for me!"

I am pretty sure 99% of questions in the format "why is/are the US/Americans like this" can be answered by one or more of Capitalism, Racism or Cars.

That was my second, thought, too.

My first thought was, "Oh, it's definitely Trump," because that wouldn't be the 10th craziest thing he's done this calendar year.

Update: C-SPAN thinks it was not him.https://x.com/cspan/status/2025679408132989253

I definitely heard "I-TAL-IA!" on the Olympic broadcasts, to the same rhythm as"U-S-A!."

"Calling in to C-SPAN to complain about things" should be considered a symptom of senile dementia, BTW.

Listeners think C-SPAN caller ranting about Supreme Court is Trump: 'This cannot be real' On Friday, an individual identifying themselves as “John Barron” phoned into C-SPAN to complain about the Supreme Court’s ruling against President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but by Sunday, a prominent po...

Someone who sounds and thinks a lot like Donald Trump and whose name was the same as Trump's long-time alias called into C-SPAN to complain about the recent SCOTUS decision.

I know! Wtf is that about?

Fun fact: while the Cybertruck's failure is often compared to the Edsel, Ford sold more Edsels in one year than Tesla has sold Cybertrucks in two.

Well, *did* your company benefit from slavery? Did it?? WHAT ARE YOU HIDING???

No, Edsels were considerably more popular than the Cybertruck.

Another American who isn't quite as good, you mean.

I'm not saying Vance *shoudn't* praise Liu, but rather that he's on the right track with Gu.

Winter Olympics 2026: China reportedly paid U.S.-born athletes, including Eileen Gu, nearly $14 million Gu and Zhu Yi, a fellow American-born athlete who now competes for China, were paid for "striving for excellent results" in the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics.

Part of the issue is that most Americans competing for other countries do so because they couldn't make the American team, whereas Gu--who clearly would be on Team USA if she tried--is competing for China because she is being paid.

I don't know, Don, I think Vance is on pretty solid ground for once. (You may recall these criticisms of Gu came up in the last Olympics, too.)

Literally. A little sticker between the two that says "<--".

Good candidates for this: Case Western Reserve, Emory, Rice, American. (Emory already has a branch 2-year campus, Oxford College.) Catholic universities (Notre Dame, Georgetown) could take operate struggling Catholic LACs as branches.

The article notes that Ivy-Plus universities probably don't want to dilute their brand, but the next tier down--like Vanderbilt--are in a sweet spot where building name recognition would help them.

The Harvard of the South … Of the West? Elite universities are taking the concept of a satellite campus to its logical extreme.

Yet another future model for colleges: private universities acquiring small, failing colleges and reopening them as branch campuses.

Was all ready to defend Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law until I saw the quoted post.

Look at this guy, double-fisting a cigar and a cigarette.

In fairness to Elon, he didn't say Grok would give you a *useful* second opinion.

I am also excited about train.

Solar desalinization, carbon-neutral fuels, recycled or low-carbon building materials...

What's this "we" business, David?