The real Ben
ben-n.bsky.social
The real Ben
@ben-n.bsky.social
An American living in France.
Yes. Yes he is.

More than that, prevailing evidence suggests he's incapable of telling the truth.

It's one thing to lie. It's another to be unable to be truthful, at least occasionally.

He should be in a locked, padded room somewhere.
December 14, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Flawed study.

Internal combustion engines emit sulfur dioxide (SO2) in their exhaust. Electric cars don't.

SO2 is a major irritant for people with asthma.

On foot or on a bike in traffic around gas-powered cars causes congestion and wheezing triggered by their exhaust. It's a danger.
December 14, 2025 at 9:33 PM
That's nonsense.

Read up about Democratic Socialism.

Read up about the countries on Earth where the population is most happy.

It's not the U.S.

Not by a long shot.

But it's not communism either.

That's nonsense.
December 14, 2025 at 9:25 PM
You're free to believe in whatever set of beliefs you choose to adopt, of course.

But ascribing powers to an inanimate object that has nothing to do with humans either in its formation or its existence just seems odd. Sad, even.
December 14, 2025 at 9:21 PM
You needn't apologize. But it's frankly odd to see someone, in this era with so much knowledge of the chemistry and physics of crystal formation, ascribe to ridiculous outdated "spiritual" notions about crystals and rocks.

It's just nonsense. And it's odd to see it posted day after day.
December 14, 2025 at 9:18 PM
So... no response to a direct question?

Where do you get the idea that these powers emanate from rocks and minerals?

As a geologist, I'm genuinely curious where people get ideas such as this.

Are your beliefs so weakly held you can't even describe their source?

And what's with the "raw" stuff?
December 14, 2025 at 9:04 PM
In.
Coe.
Herent.

The guy should be in a rocking chair in some safe room somewhere.

He's unhinged. He's dangerous. He's incapable of doing his job, which means unelected underlings and ghouls are making decisions and sliding papers over to him to unwittingly sign.

He's a figurehead. A bad one.
December 14, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Carnac, Bretagne, France
December 14, 2025 at 2:10 PM
You could fill volumes with the things the convicted felon doesn't understand. Libraries even.
December 14, 2025 at 2:04 PM
I used to live in Reno.

The decor he's having installed makes the White House look like a second-tier casino.
December 14, 2025 at 9:57 AM
I'm quite confident the convicted felon has any idea whatsoever what is in those supposed "accords."

Nor does he care.
December 14, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Nah. He's just a liar.

Can't help himself. The truth is to him what sunshine is to a vampire.

And millions of Americans are too damn stupid to realize that.

Or care.
December 14, 2025 at 7:42 AM
I have another folder right beside it called "Google Crap" for crap that I need once in a blue moon but don't want crowding out more useful and less intrusive stuff.
December 14, 2025 at 7:40 AM
I'm surprised anyone even uses the health app. It's in a folder on the last page of my iPhone labeled "Garbage."

Its neighbors in that folder are iMovie, Stocks, Shortcuts, and Games."
December 14, 2025 at 7:40 AM
He's an idiot. There are many countries in the western world that provide far more benefits to immigrants in terms of health care, cultural opportunities, workplace protections, and more consumer-oriented laws and regulations than in the U.S.

He's crazy in addition to being a first class grifter.
December 14, 2025 at 7:37 AM
That's another problem.

I live in Normandie.

British drivers are the worst. They seem blissfully unaware of local driving laws; apparently assuming everything is just as it is across the water.

It's not.
December 13, 2025 at 11:53 PM
There's another problem.

The steering wheel is on the wrong side.
December 13, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Anyone who thinks the U.S. is more admired under the convicted felon's administration than before should get out more.

That's essentially 180 degrees away from reality.
December 13, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Curious where you come up with these imagined powers you attribute to rocks and minerals?

When I took optical crystallography, mineralogy, and megascopic petrology classes as an undergraduate the textbooks, professors, and graduate students teaching the associated labs all failed to mention them.
December 13, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Not everybody, you pathetic creepy convicted felon.

Not everybody by a long shot.

You're not even adult enough to own up and take responsibility for your own actions?

Pathetic loser. You and everything you've ever done are an embarrassment to humanity.
December 13, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Not surprising. I hurt my ankle in Lyon and called my doctor for an appointment and he asked if he should come to my apartment to see me.

I told him no -- for some reason I could ride my bike without pain so I'd go to him.

They still make house calls. They even offer to do it.
December 12, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Both types.
December 12, 2025 at 11:00 PM
I live in France. Universal healthcare, even for noncitizens.

When I call my doctor for an appointment, the first thing out of his mouth is, "Demain?" (tomorrow?).

If I were to say today he would make it work. But tomorrow or the next day usually is fine.
December 12, 2025 at 10:57 PM
A co-worker, many years ago. We were doing field work (we're geologists).

At a restaurant one night, he went off on a rant about being served food too hot to be eaten right away.

It was one of the weirdest, most surreal rants I've experienced.

Wait for it to cool, man. Just wait.

Cool it.
December 12, 2025 at 10:53 PM