Update 1 - Apr 28 - mid-day US time: Hello all, many thanks for your responses here and also over direct messaging/chat function, I wanted to say I am immensely appreciative of the help parties have reached out to me with, and cannot express my gratitude enough. We are now looking for potentially transferring him at some point in the future to another hospital in Cordoba (Hospital Reina Sofía Córdoba - about an hour drive). But are not entirely sure how this process works - theoretically AIG travel insurance team should be handling this but they are slow here, likely because it is weekend. To be clear, transfer is not me suggesting this hospital or care team is bad or something (goodness, you should see garbage state of medical care in the USA haha. My monthly medications are likely going to exceed his entire hospital bill here) - I am nothing but immensely grateful to them. It is instead the case that he will likely need to be hospitalized for at least another 3 weeks/longer term, and we need someone to consistently be with him in the room and watch him because keeps trying to get out of bed, which he is not supposed to do (due to his low oxygen levels, he is in a state of "delirium" to put it lightly, and this is making a normally sweet natured man argumentative with family and staff) but in Cordoba we have a friend who can help rotate with my family members in watching him. Obviously will not operate against doctors orders if it is the case that he cannot be moved yet (think of this more as question for planning for further future, as he will take him a long time to re-cooperate sufficiently to make it back home to USA), but, if it is appropriate, if anyone here has any suggestions or information on how medical transfers work and/or if that is even allowed in Spain, and how to confirm with receiving hospital in advance that they have spot/bed for a patient and can indeed receive them, then that would be grealty appreciated. In the USA at least, transfers are very common and routine - it is not done to suggest or imply one hospital has bad doctors or building or something, instead (once patient is stabilized and if doctor approves) its usually done to move patient to more convenient location, location that has relevant equipment/medical imaging technology that a more rural facility might lack since some equipment is insanely expensive, etc. My read on the situation may be inaccurate, but it seems doctostaff might be insulted/offended by us asking questions on how transfer works, I assume it may be the case that transfer is less common in spain or maybe it is taken as an insult towards their expertise or something (we are having to work through rough english and spanish translations back and forth as they are not willing/able to speak with paid translators over the phone - it seems the hospital is very busy with lower than normal staff, as it is some major holiday in the area). I realize this situation is ridiculous, and it is classic "american tourist goes to a foreign nation and reinforces every stereotype about Americans" trope (me and my sister tried to stop this trip from happening in first place - we love our parents, but as is obvious, they are very old and not the most competent with technology/accessing patient portal and medical records), so I apologize for my ignorance in this area. Apologies in advance for bothering you all on this board (it seems this board is more about fun topics like vacation in spain), and wanted to again thank you all immensely for your help, and also apologize for typical american ignorance and reinforcing our classic tropes - if they make it back from this trip safe and sound, they will be grounded for foreseeable future haha.
Background: As per the title, my dad is in Spain at the moment and he got infected with COVID-19 and is seriously ill [mid 70s M; 6'2ft; up to date on vaccinations for COVID-19, RSV, flu, etc.; 220 pounds; their condition is active COVID-19, serious breathing trouble, hypoxia, pneumonia, and likely other issues as they are going through ongoing tests right now]
Timeline of Events:

1. My parents’ US doctor prescribed them Paxlovid prior to my dad and mom traveling to Spain. My parents also got the most recent round of COVID-19 boosters for older adults about 4 weeks ago.
   
2. They both tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, April 24 with a molecular Lucira COVID-19 and Flu A/B test, and they both started taking their 5-day course of Paxlovid. They also saw a rural doctor in Spain who prescribed them 5 other medications for my dad to take, as his COVID infection was much more severe than my mom’s. However, I can’t figure out if these medications are worthwhile for COVID-19 and/or if they are contraindicated with Paxlovid since it’s all in Spanish. This includes the following medications: 1. Levofloxcico; 2. Varidasa; 3. Paracetamol; 4. Flutox Jarabe; 5. Vontolin.
   

-After asking on some other Reddit boards and doing some research myself, it seems to be the case that there is no information on any interactions between these drugs and Paxlovid (no information available suggesting there is indeed an interaction or no interactions – so no information either good or bad). However, I assume someone with a medical background might know whether these might be a contraindication risk due to their general drug classes.
-Got in contact with a US based pulmonologist. who suggested that he stop taking varidasa/drug #2, which he did (not sure if this caused things to get better or worse, or if he would have gotten worse regardless), and that he might have hypoxia and thus likely cannot fly/be flown to Madrid or back to US given his current condition (not sure if this meant only airplane travel, or if helicopter travel to Madrid is also barred due to hypoxia).
-Given that my parents just recently got new COVID vaccine boosters + started Paxlovid course immediately after feeling ill and testing positive, I’m not sure why my dad is so sick already (yes he is very old, yes I understand vaccines are not sterilizing, etc.). I have a partial concern that these 5 other random drugs this rural doctor prescribed (now 4 as of this morning), might be making things worse, since Paxlovid is quite harsh on the kidneys/liver, and all these other drugs may be adding no additional health benefit, and instead are just increasing overall toxicity and/or interfering with Paxlovid. Obviously this thought process could just be unconscious bias/seeking something to blame here, and is not rational consideration.

1. My Dad’s condition worsened on Friday April 26, and taken to a small rural hospital in Andújar, Spain (he needed to go to the nearest one ASAP). This is where my mom and dad currently are/where my dad was admitted. My mom is sick with COVID-19 as well but her condition is nowhere near as bad, so she is trying to coordinate things and communicate to me status updates. I believe he is now on oxygen and getting various tests. Pulse oximeter denotes low oxygen levels, and they are running other tests. Confirmed he has pneumonia and are starting IV antibiotics.
   
2. My dad started his 5-day Paxlovid course Wednesday, so he theoretically should be done with it Sunday or Monday – I’m fearing that if he is already in this bad of a state with the added buffer of Paxlovid interfering with viral replication, I can’t imagine what the likely COVID rebound situation will be on Sunday or Monday when he completes the course, and/or whether he can even get an additional package of Paxlovid in Spain (assuming a doctor would recommend that he do that – again, toxicity might be too high as is. Not sure what is liver AST enzymes are at, at the moment).
   

Main Requests
So I guess my ask here is that I am seeking any Spain-based/Spanish Speaking individuals who can advise on:
a. Good pulmonologist (and/or other relevant medical expert) somewhat near Andújar, Spain, or who is in another part of Spain who can help with advice (feel free to DM me if appropriate). Or any recommendation for a good/larger hospital around Andújar, Spain (since they likely can't make it all the way to Madrid which is 4+ hours away where big academic hospitals are).
b. the following medications: 1. Levofloxcico; 2. Varidasa; 3. Paracetamol; 4. Flutox Jarabe; 5. Vontolin. There appears to be no information on whether they interact negatively with Paxlovid. Also, not sure if these medications are good for COVID-19 and/or if there are other medications available in Spain people might recommend, as I'm not sure if Paxlovid is available in Spain or at least this part of Spain. He stopped taking drug # 2./Varidasa as explained above as per telehealth conversation with good pulmonologist in US, but not sure if that is the correct course – obviously doctors know best, but it may be the case that a US doctor would recommend against this medication simply because they don’t know what it is and its unclear if there is a US analog.
Other Requests
c. Any good recommendations on how to go about dealing with Spanish to English language barrier? I only speak English and am based in USA, but it seems all the medical staff at this small hospital speak Spanish only, so not sure how to communicate and coordinate with them, and not sure how to get medical records from US doctors sent to Spain doctors so they can use it. Basically, looking for a doctor, med student, etc. in this area (or some kind of app, paid translation services, etc.) who speaks Spanish and English and who can serve gap between the language barrier here.
d. Any other suggestions on how to handle this situation? Maybe calling US embassy or something? Maybe they can help figure out how to transfer health records from US to Spain, since I assume HIPAA will be an issue? Really not sure what to do.
Concluding Thoughts
Apologies in advance if this breaks any rules and/or is quite an unreasonable ask......not sure what else to do at this stage as I am an ocean away and my passport is expired/I’m stuck in USA (my sister is likely able to get to Spain/where they are in next 48 hours as her passport isn’t expired since she travels a lot – admittedly not sure there is much either of us can do as we are not medical persons).
While my mother is with him and does speak some Spanish, it seems her COVID-19 infection (while not hospitalizing her) is giving her brain fog + making her extremely tired, and so she is having a hard time conversing with parties here.
I love my father and absolutely cannot let him pass like this – if allowed under this subreddit’s rules, I can pay if needed to get help here (and/or donate to charity of ones choosing or something else that is allowable), as I realize this is quite a remote part of Spain and a rather lengthy and complicated ask.
Please help me, I’m desperate and not sure what to do here – this feels like a perfect storm of everything going wrong all at once.

Background: As per the title, my dad is in Spain at the moment and he got infected with COVID-19 and is seriously ill [mid 70s M; 6'2ft; up to date on vaccinations for COVID-19, RSV, flu, etc.; 220 pounds; their condition is active COVID-19, serious breathing trouble, hypoxia, pneumonia, and likely other issues as they are going through ongoing tests right now]
Timeline of Events:

1. My parents’ US doctor prescribed them Paxlovid prior to my dad and mom traveling to Spain. My parents also got the most recent round of COVID-19 boosters for older adults about 4 weeks ago.
   
2. They both tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, April 24 with a molecular Lucira COVID-19 and Flu A/B test, and they both started taking their 5-day course of Paxlovid. They also saw a rural doctor in Spain who prescribed them 5 other medications for my dad to take, as his COVID infection was much more severe than my mom’s. However, I can’t figure out if these medications are worthwhile for COVID-19 and/or if they are contraindicated with Paxlovid since it’s all in Spanish. This includes the following medications: 1. Levofloxcico; 2. Varidasa; 3. Paracetamol; 4. Flutox Jarabe; 5. Vontolin.
   

-After asking on some other Reddit boards and doing some research myself, it seems to be the case that there is no information on any interactions between these drugs and Paxlovid (no information available suggesting there is indeed an interaction or no interactions – so no information either good or bad). However, I assume someone with a medical background might know whether these might be a contraindication risk due to their general drug classes.
-Got in contact with a US based pulmonologist. who suggested that he stop taking varidasa/drug #2, which he did (not sure if this caused things to get better or worse, or if he would have gotten worse regardless), and that he might have hypoxia and thus likely cannot fly/be flown to Madrid or back to US given his current condition (not sure if this meant only airplane travel, or if helicopter travel to Madrid is also barred due to hypoxia).
-Given that my parents just recently got new COVID vaccine boosters + started Paxlovid course immediately after feeling ill and testing positive, I’m not sure why my dad is so sick already (yes he is very old, yes I understand vaccines are not sterilizing, etc.). I have a partial concern that these 5 other random drugs this rural doctor prescribed (now 4 as of this morning), might be making things worse, since Paxlovid is quite harsh on the kidneys/liver, and all these other drugs may be adding no additional health benefit, and instead are just increasing overall toxicity and/or interfering with Paxlovid. Obviously this thought process could just be unconscious bias/seeking something to blame here, and is not rational consideration.

1. My Dad’s condition worsened on Friday April 26, and taken to a small rural hospital in Andújar, Spain (he needed to go to the nearest one ASAP). This is where my mom and dad currently are/where my dad was admitted. My mom is sick with COVID-19 as well but her condition is nowhere near as bad, so she is trying to coordinate things and communicate to me status updates. I believe he is now on oxygen and getting various tests. Pulse oximeter denotes low oxygen levels, and they are running other tests. Confirmed he has pneumonia and are starting IV antibiotics.
   
2. My dad started his 5-day Paxlovid course Wednesday, so he theoretically should be done with it Sunday or Monday – I’m fearing that if he is already in this bad of a state with the added buffer of Paxlovid interfering with viral replication, I can’t imagine what the likely COVID rebound situation will be on Sunday or Monday when he completes the course, and/or whether he can even get an additional package of Paxlovid in Spain (assuming a doctor would recommend that he do that – again, toxicity might be too high as is. Not sure what is liver AST enzymes are at, at the moment).
   

Main Requests
So I guess my ask here is that I am seeking any Spain-based/Spanish Speaking individuals who can advise on:
a. Good pulmonologist (and/or other relevant medical expert) somewhat near Andújar, Spain, or who is in another part of Spain who can help with advice (feel free to DM me if appropriate). Or any recommendation for a good/larger hospital around Andújar, Spain (since they likely can't make it all the way to Madrid which is 4+ hours away where big academic hospitals are).
b. the following medications: 1. Levofloxcico; 2. Varidasa; 3. Paracetamol; 4. Flutox Jarabe; 5. Vontolin. There appears to be no information on whether they interact negatively with Paxlovid. Also, not sure if these medications are good for COVID-19 and/or if there are other medications available in Spain people might recommend, as I'm not sure if Paxlovid is available in Spain or at least this part of Spain. He stopped taking drug # 2./Varidasa as explained above as per telehealth conversation with good pulmonologist in US, but not sure if that is the correct course – obviously doctors know best, but it may be the case that a US doctor would recommend against this medication simply because they don’t know what it is and its unclear if there is a US analog.
Other Requests
c. Any good recommendations on how to go about dealing with Spanish to English language barrier? I only speak English and am based in USA, but it seems all the medical staff at this small hospital speak Spanish only, so not sure how to communicate and coordinate with them, and not sure how to get medical records from US doctors sent to Spain doctors so they can use it. Basically, looking for a doctor, med student, etc. in this area (or some kind of app, paid translation services, etc.) who speaks Spanish and English and who can serve gap between the language barrier here.
d. Any other suggestions on how to handle this situation? Maybe calling US embassy or something? Maybe they can help figure out how to transfer health records from US to Spain, since I assume HIPAA will be an issue? Really not sure what to do.
Concluding Thoughts
Apologies in advance if this breaks any rules and/or is quite an unreasonable ask......not sure what else to do at this stage as I am an ocean away and my passport is expired/I’m stuck in USA (my sister is likely able to get to Spain/where they are in next 48 hours as her passport isn’t expired since she travels a lot – admittedly not sure there is much either of us can do as we are not medical persons).
While my mother is with him and does speak some Spanish, it seems her COVID-19 infection (while not hospitalizing her) is giving her brain fog + making her extremely tired, and so she is having a hard time conversing with parties here.
I love my father and absolutely cannot let him pass like this – if allowed under this subreddit’s rules, I can pay if needed to get help here (and/or donate to charity of ones choosing or something else that is allowable), as I realize this is quite a remote part of Spain and a rather lengthy and complicated ask.
Please help me, I’m desperate and not sure what to do here – this feels like a perfect storm of everything going wrong all at once.

NOTE: This post is not seeking direct medical advice/answers to the medical questions in of themselves. Instead, this post is moreso directed at whether anyone has any recommendations on what I should do and/or direction to any resources that might help answer these questions (i.e., how do I find good pulmonologist who speaks english and Spanish, as I dont speak Spanish). Honestly, I realize my efforts to do anything here might be futile, so seeing if anyone has had a similiar experience and how they dealt with it emotionally or otherwise.
​
Background: As per the title, my dad is in Spain at the moment and he got infected with COVID-19 and is seriously ill [mid 70s M; 6'2ft; up to date on vaccinations for COVID-19, RSV, flu, etc.; 220 pounds; their condition is active COVID-19, serious breathing trouble, hypoxia, pneumonia, and likely other issues as they are going through ongoing tests right now]
Timeline of Events:
1.My parents’ US doctor prescribed them Paxlovid prior to my dad and mom traveling to Spain. My parents also got the most recent round of COVID-19 boosters for older adults about 4 weeks ago.

1. They both tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, April 24 with a molecular Lucira COVID-19 and Flu A/B test, and they both started taking their 5-day course of Paxlovid. They also saw a rural doctor in Spain who prescribed them 5 other medications for my dad to take, as his COVID infection was much more severe than my mom’s. However, I can’t figure out if these medications are worthwhile for COVID-19 and/or if they are contraindicated with Paxlovid since it’s all in Spanish. This includes the following medications: 1. Levofloxcico; 2. Varidasa; 3. Paracetamol; 4. Flutox Jarabe; 5. Vontolin.

-After asking on some other Reddit boards and doing some research myself, it seems to be the case that there is no information on any interactions between these drugs and Paxlovid (no information available suggesting there is indeed an interaction or no interactions – so no information either good or bad). However, I assume someone with a medical background might know whether these might be a contraindication risk due to their general drug classes.
-Got in contact with a US based pulmonologist. who suggested that he stop taking varidasa/drug #2, which he did (not sure if this caused things to get better or worse, or if he would have gotten worse regardless), and that he might have hypoxia and thus likely cannot fly/be flown to Madrid or back to US given his current condition (not sure if this meant only airplane travel, or if helicopter travel to Madrid is also barred due to hypoxia).
-Given that my parents just recently got new COVID vaccine boosters + started Paxlovid course immediately after feeling ill and testing positive, I’m not sure why my dad is so sick already (yes he is very old, yes I understand vaccines are not sterilizing, etc.). I have a partial concern that these 5 other random drugs this rural doctor prescribed (now 4 as of this morning), might be making things worse, since Paxlovid is quite harsh on the kidneys/liver, and all these other drugs may be adding no additional health benefit, and instead are just increasing overall toxicity and/or interfering with Paxlovid. Obviously this thought process could just be unconscious bias/seeking something to blame here, and is not rational consideration.

1. My Dad’s condition worsened on Friday April 26, and taken to a small rural hospital in Andújar, Spain (he needed to go to the nearest one ASAP). This is where my mom and dad currently are/where my dad was admitted. My mom is sick with COVID-19 as well but her condition is nowhere near as bad, so she is trying to coordinate things and communicate to me status updates. I believe he is now on oxygen and getting various tests. Pulse oximeter denotes low oxygen levels, and they are running other tests. Confirmed he has pneumonia and are starting IV antibiotics.
   
2. My dad started his 5-day Paxlovid course Wednesday, so he theoretically should be done with it Sunday or Monday – I’m fearing that if he is already in this bad of a state with the added buffer of Paxlovid interfering with viral replication, I can’t imagine what the likely COVID rebound situation will be on Sunday or Monday when he completes the course, and/or whether he can even get an additional package of Paxlovid in Spain (assuming a doctor would recommend that he do that – again, toxicity might be too high as is. Not sure what is liver AST enzymes are at, at the moment).
   

Main Requests
So I guess my ask here is that I am seeking any Spain-based/Spanish Speaking individuals who can advise on:
a. Good pulmonologist (and/or other relevant medical expert) somewhat near Andújar, Spain, or who is in another part of Spain who can help with advice (feel free to DM me if appropriate). Or any recommendation for a good/larger hospital around Andújar, Spain (since they likely can't make it all the way to Madrid which is 4+ hours away where big academic hospitals are).
b. the following medications: 1. Levofloxcico; 2. Varidasa; 3. Paracetamol; 4. Flutox Jarabe; 5. Vontolin. There appears to be no information on whether they interact negatively with Paxlovid. Also, not sure if these medications are good for COVID-19 and/or if there are other medications available in Spain people might recommend, as I'm not sure if Paxlovid is available in Spain or at least this part of Spain. He stopped taking drug # 2./Varidasa as explained above as per telehealth conversation with good pulmonologist in US, but not sure if that is the correct course – obviously doctors know best, but it may be the case that a US doctor would recommend against this medication simply because they don’t know what it is and its unclear if there is a US analog.
Other Requests
c. Any good recommendations on how to go about dealing with Spanish to English language barrier? I only speak English and am based in USA, but it seems all the medical staff at this small hospital speak Spanish only, so not sure how to communicate and coordinate with them, and not sure how to get medical records from US doctors sent to Spain doctors so they can use it. Basically, looking for a doctor, med student, etc. in this area (or some kind of app, paid translation services, etc.) who speaks Spanish and English and who can serve gap between the language barrier here.
d. Any other suggestions on how to handle this situation? Maybe calling US embassy or something? Maybe they can help figure out how to transfer health records from US to Spain, since I assume HIPAA will be an issue? Really not sure what to do.
Concluding Thoughts
Apologies in advance if this breaks any rules and/or is quite an unreasonable ask......not sure what else to do at this stage as I am an ocean away and my passport is expired/I’m stuck in USA (my sister is likely able to get to Spain/where they are in next 48 hours as her passport isn’t expired since she travels a lot – admittedly not sure there is much either of us can do as we are not medical persons).
While my mother is with him and does speak some Spanish, it seems her COVID-19 infection (while not hospitalizing her) is giving her brain fog + making her extremely tired, and so she is having a hard time conversing with parties here.
I love my father and absolutely cannot let him pass like this – if allowed under this subreddit’s rules, I can pay if needed to get help here (and/or donate to charity of ones choosing or something else that is allowable), as I realize this is quite a remote part of Spain and a rather lengthy and complicated ask.
Please help me, I’m desperate and not sure what to do here – this feels like a perfect storm of everything going wrong all at once.

Background: As per the title, my dad is in Spain at the moment and he got infected with COVID-19 and is seriously ill [mid 70s M; 6'2ft; up to date on vaccinations for COVID-19, RSV, flu, etc.; 220 pounds; their condition is active COVID-19, serious breathing trouble, hypoxia, pneumonia, and likely other issues as they are going through ongoing tests right now]
Timeline of Events:

1. My parents’ US doctor prescribed them Paxlovid prior to my dad and mom traveling to Spain. My parents also got the most recent round of COVID-19 boosters for older adults about 4 weeks ago.
   
2. They both tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, April 24 with a molecular Lucira COVID-19 and Flu A/B test, and they both started taking their 5-day course of Paxlovid. They also saw a rural doctor in Spain who prescribed them 5 other medications for my dad to take, as his COVID infection was much more severe than my mom’s. However, I can’t figure out if these medications are worthwhile for COVID-19 and/or if they are contraindicated with Paxlovid since it’s all in Spanish. This includes the following medications: 1. Levofloxcico; 2. Varidasa; 3. Paracetamol; 4. Flutox Jarabe; 5. Vontolin.
   

-After asking on some other Reddit boards and doing some research myself, it seems to be the case that there is no information on any interactions between these drugs and Paxlovid (no information available suggesting there is indeed an interaction or no interactions – so no information either good or bad). However, I assume someone with a medical background might know whether these might be a contraindication risk due to their general drug classes.
-Got in contact with a US based pulmonologist. who suggested that he stop taking varidasa/drug #2, which he did (not sure if this caused things to get better or worse, or if he would have gotten worse regardless), and that he might have hypoxia and thus likely cannot fly/be flown to Madrid or back to US given his current condition (not sure if this meant only airplane travel, or if helicopter travel to Madrid is also barred due to hypoxia).
-Given that my parents just recently got new COVID vaccine boosters + started Paxlovid course immediately after feeling ill and testing positive, I’m not sure why my dad is so sick already (yes he is very old, yes I understand vaccines are not sterilizing, etc.). I have a partial concern that these 5 other random drugs this rural doctor prescribed (now 4 as of this morning), might be making things worse, since Paxlovid is quite harsh on the kidneys/liver, and all these other drugs may be adding no additional health benefit, and instead are just increasing overall toxicity and/or interfering with Paxlovid. Obviously this thought process could just be unconscious bias/seeking something to blame here, and is not rational consideration.

1. My Dad’s condition worsened on Friday April 26, and taken to a small rural hospital in Andújar, Spain (he needed to go to the nearest one ASAP). This is where my mom and dad currently are/where my dad was admitted. My mom is sick with COVID-19 as well but her condition is nowhere near as bad, so she is trying to coordinate things and communicate to me status updates. I believe he is now on oxygen and getting various tests. Pulse oximeter denotes low oxygen levels, and they are running other tests. Confirmed he has pneumonia and are starting IV antibiotics.
   
2. My dad started his 5-day Paxlovid course Wednesday, so he theoretically should be done with it Sunday or Monday – I’m fearing that if he is already in this bad of a state with the added buffer of Paxlovid interfering with viral replication, I can’t imagine what the likely COVID rebound situation will be on Sunday or Monday when he completes the course, and/or whether he can even get an additional package of Paxlovid in Spain (assuming a doctor would recommend that he do that – again, toxicity might be too high as is. Not sure what is liver AST enzymes are at, at the moment).
   

Main Requests
So I guess my ask here is that I am seeking any Spain-based/Spanish Speaking individuals who can advise on:
a. Good pulmonologist (and/or other relevant medical expert) somewhat near Andújar, Spain, or who is in another part of Spain who can help with advice (feel free to DM me if appropriate). Or any recommendation for a good/larger hospital around Andújar, Spain (since they likely can't make it all the way to Madrid which is 4+ hours away where big academic hospitals are).
b. the following medications: 1. Levofloxcico; 2. Varidasa; 3. Paracetamol; 4. Flutox Jarabe; 5. Vontolin. There appears to be no information on whether they interact negatively with Paxlovid. Also, not sure if these medications are good for COVID-19 and/or if there are other medications available in Spain people might recommend, as I'm not sure if Paxlovid is available in Spain or at least this part of Spain. He stopped taking drug # 2./Varidasa as explained above as per telehealth conversation with good pulmonologist in US, but not sure if that is the correct course – obviously doctors know best, but it may be the case that a US doctor would recommend against this medication simply because they don’t know what it is and its unclear if there is a US analog.
Other Requests
c. Any good recommendations on how to go about dealing with Spanish to English language barrier? I only speak English and am based in USA, but it seems all the medical staff at this small hospital speak Spanish only, so not sure how to communicate and coordinate with them, and not sure how to get medical records from US doctors sent to Spain doctors so they can use it. Basically, looking for a doctor, med student, etc. in this area (or some kind of app, paid translation services, etc.) who speaks Spanish and English and who can serve gap between the language barrier here.
d. Any other suggestions on how to handle this situation? Maybe calling US embassy or something? Maybe they can help figure out how to transfer health records from US to Spain, since I assume HIPAA will be an issue? Really not sure what to do.
Concluding Thoughts
Apologies in advance if this breaks any rules and/or is quite an unreasonable ask......not sure what else to do at this stage as I am an ocean away and my passport is expired/I’m stuck in USA (my sister is likely able to get to Spain/where they are in next 48 hours as her passport isn’t expired since she travels a lot – admittedly not sure there is much either of us can do as we are not medical persons).
While my mother is with him and does speak some Spanish, it seems her COVID-19 infection (while not hospitalizing her) is giving her brain fog + making her extremely tired, and so she is having a hard time conversing with parties here.
I love my father and absolutely cannot let him pass like this – if allowed under this subreddit’s rules, I can pay if needed to get help here (and/or donate to charity of ones choosing or something else that is allowable), as I realize this is quite a remote part of Spain and a rather lengthy and complicated ask.
Please help me, I’m desperate and not sure what to do here – this feels like a perfect storm of everything going wrong all at once.

I want to understand the logic behind this director's thought process - which could also form a discussion on how fantasy authors cherry pick from history to create their lore. Basically, fantasy developers like Yoshida Naoki pull history from all medieval centuries of Europe (usually) to create their fantasy. And of course, they can fashion their fantasy how they want. But how far does, can or even should history define fantasy? For example, Yoshida was asked:

In regards to diversity in the game, can we expect to see Black characters in Final Fantasy XVI, or people of color (non-white characters) in general? To clarify a bit more, there’s been discussion around the trailers to date featuring mostly white characters, and I wanted to get clarity on whether we can expect the final game to be more diverse.

His response:

Our design concept from the earliest stages of development has always heavily featured medieval Europe, incorporating historical, cultural, political, and anthropological standards that were prevalent at the time. When deciding on a setting that was best suited to the story we wanted to tell — the story of a land beset by the Blight — we felt that rather than create something on a global scale, it was necessary to limit the scope to a single landmass — one geographically and culturally isolated from the rest of the world in an age without airplanes, television, or telephones.

It's fine to create something other than on a global scale, but "what time" of medieval Europe is he talking about/using? 5th CE? 10th CE? 15th CE? Keep in mind, the "time" and "setting" he's referring to is supposed to be justification for why he the setting doesn't have diversity.

Due to the underlying geographical, technological, and geopolitical constraints of this setting, Valisthea was never going to realistically be as diverse as say a modern-day Earth...or even Final Fantasy XIV that has an entire planet (and moon) worth of nations, races, and cultures at its disposal. The isolated nature of this realm, however, does end up playing a large part in the story and is one of the reasons Valisthea’s fate is tied to the rest of the world.

Earth in general was and is diverse all throughout known history because there were and are all sorts of people all around Earth. However, what I think he means is "medieval Europe", of which Valisthea is some type of an analog, would never be as diverse as "modern-day Europe". But it only begs the question as to what constraints in reality would lead him to eschew diversity in a fantasy anyways? What do they constraints mean to the game? How is it relevant? And is this thought process responsible for a fantasy authodirectodeveloper?

Ultimately, we felt that while incorporating ethnic diversity into Valisthea was important, an over-incorporation into this single corner of a much larger world could end up causing a violation of those narrative boundaries we originally set for ourselves. The story we are telling is fantasy, yes, but it is also rooted in reality.

Which still begs the question of what these constraints mean, much less what they are. Plus, to me, it seems that his idea of reality seems rooted in a type of historical fantasy itself (i.e. misconceptions)...
The rest of his response to this question is just about how game. But then he says:

The best part of pulling inspiration directly from history, however, is that it allows us to revisit and re-examine our own pasts, while also allowing us to create something new.

So his response was to justify why there was no diversity in his Final Fantasy XVI, by using historical medieval Europe (which did have, in some places, diversity).
I'm not sure what to make of what he said. If he had just said "we want Final Fantasy XVI to look like the medieval of Hollywood movies before the 90's", we'd be having a different discussion. But instead, he's trying to use history as a viable reason and justification for lacking diversity in a fantasy, and it isn't clear why. There aren't even Japanese people in the game, but there are Japanese weapons. And keep in mind, Yoshida did give a reason, which seems like a way to avoid taking responsibility for how it turns out.
His words might provide self-reflection for those interested in mindfully creating and enjoying fantasy. But for anyone who played FFXVI, how does any of this pan out?

&ME & Black Coffee vs Xinobi & Lazarusman - The Rapture Pt.III & Searching For (ID Mashup)
&ME & RAMPA -TOG 4
&ME X Nadia Ali - Rapture On the Rapture Pt.II (Elias Kazais Mashup)
&ME, Black Coffee - The Rapture Pt.III (Eszco (Mont Rouge) & Krief Edit)
&ME, Black Coffee - The Rapture Pt.III Oh Lord
Abra - Feel (&ME Remix)
Joseph Ray, Lakou Mizik - Sanba Yo Pran Pale (&ME Remix)
Masšh - Ilanga (&Me Edit)
Simian Mobile Disco - Caught In A Wave (&ME Remix)
Unkle - Only You (&me Remix)
16 Bit Lolitas - Earball (Old Track)
16 Bit Lolitas - Johnny Likes Acid (Old Track)
16 Bit Lolitas - Little Bird Dreams (Old Track)
16 Bit Lolitas - Ready & Rare (Old Track)
16 Bit Lolitas - The Funky Bastard (Old Track)
Abel Ray & Ted - Woman
Boghosian X Fela Kuti - Esta Vida (Water No Get Enemy) (Abel Ray Edit)
Bruno Furlan X Michael Gray - Bongoloco (The Weekend) (Abel Ray Edit)
Caiiro x Ye - The Pablo Akan (Abel Ray Edit)
Chambord X MJ - Mamentia (Don't Stop) (Abel Ray Edit)
Daryl Hall & John Oates - Out Of Touch (Kashovski & Abel Ray Private) V1
David Morales X Simo Lagnawi - The Gnawa Experience (Abel Ray Edit)
Dennis Ferrer, Sasse X Masters At Work - Work Transitions (Abel Ray Edit)
DJ Pappa X Simone - Morning Caminhando (Abel Ray Edit)
Fatboy Slim X Dennis Ferrer - Praise You (Abel Ray Edit)
FEX (IT) X AC - Cancun Tribalica (Abel Ray Edit)
Fiona Kraft x Drake - A Nomad Keeper (Abel Ray Edit)
GruuvElement's & Lucas Moss X Zhane - Front Da (Crush) (Abel Ray Edit)
John Creamer X Anna Reusch - Forget The World (Arabian Nights) (Ismael Rivas Factomania Remix Abel Ray Edit)
Kadosh X Lazarusman - Closer Enough To Heaven (Abel Ray Edit)
Kashovski & Abel Ray - Alright
Kashovski & Abel Ray - Baby
Kashovski & Abel Ray - Sunrise
Kashovski & Abel Ray - The Same
Léonce X Pharrell & Swae Lee - Airplane Runt (Abel Ray Edit)
Les Maçons De La Musique X Jay Z - No Time (Abel Ray Edit)
M.in X Bob Marley - Cruzando Jammin (Abel Ray Edit)
Mark Knight X LOSTBOYJAY - Brutal (Could Be Wrong) (Abel Ray Reboot)
Melé x Donald Glover - This Brooklyn Bounce (Abel Ray Edit)
Mera Bhai - Jama El F'na (Abel Ray Remix)
Moscoman & Kadosh (IL) feat. Stereo MC's - Free You (Sound Of Violence) (Super Flu Remix) (Abel Ray Edit)
Peggy Gou X Moojo - (It Goes Like) Fortress (Abel Ray Edit)
Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall (Abel Ray Edit)
Portishead - Glory Box (Abel Ray & Ted Remix)
Rampa & Sparrow & Barbossa X El Maar - Vatra Champion (Abel Ray Edit)
Robert Owens - I'll Be Your Friend (Dead Zone) (Abel Ray Edit)
Supermode X Hyenah - Tell Me Why (Balear) (Abel Ray Edit)
Thomas Gandey & Santiago Garcia X Khaled - Maghreb (Abdel Kader) (Abel Ray Edit)
Yaya X Pharrel Williams & Uffie - Ebi Awon (Abel Ray Edit)
Pablo Fierro, Kendrick Lamar - Amores Salvajes (United In Grief) (Abel Ray Edit)
Dua Lipa - Houdini (Adam Port Extended Mix)
Masšh & Adam Port feat. Ninae - All I Got (Original Mix)
Adam Ten - Carovana
Adam Ten - Cold Summer
Adam Ten - Kepler
Adam Ten - Magic Circus
Adam Ten, Aretha Frankly - A Deeper Love
Adriatique - Buchlas Dreaming (Happy Ending Edit)
Adriatique, WhoMadeWho - Miracle Rose Avenue (Instrumental Version)
Sin Cos Tan - Destroyer (Adriatique Remix)
Aera - Pullunder
Aera - Puzzle Emotivo V
Last Jimi On Jules - My Pixel's On Fire (Aera's Mashup)
OPUS III - It's A Fine Day (Aera's Finite Edit)
Schneider TM, Kptmichigan - The Light 3000 (Aera Private Edit)
Aether - Sonora
Agents Of Time - Don't Stop
Agustin Giri - Burning Bow
Agustin Giri - Radium
Agustin Giri, Folgar - Wrong Place
Not Alone - (AHLO Remix)
Ajna - Astro
Ajna - Move
Anja x Samm - Secundo
Mano, Ajna - Bottom
Sailor & I - Black Swan (Alex Niggemann Remix)
Adassiya - Sa Ansa (Alex Twin Remix)
Adele - Set Fire To The Rain (Alex Twin Bootleg)
Alex Twin - Together (Vocal Mix)
ALEX TWIN, Rbor - Bandido
Hey Hey X Let's Try (Alex Twin Edit)
Joezi - Amathole (Alex Twin Remix)
Lin Cortés - Novia Moderna (Alex Twin Edit)
Madonna - Music (Alex Twin Rework)
Most Beautiful (Alex Twin Remix)
Nino - Amor (Alex Twin Edit)
Robbie Akbal - Zero One (Alex Twin Remix)
Sérgio Mendes - Mas Que Nada (Alex Twin Edit)
Toto - Africa (Alex Twin Edit)
Alex Wann, Soubeiran, Nes Mburu - N’Gele 16khz
Healing x Say My Name Alex Wann Edit
Hugel, Alex Wann - Forever In My Mind
The Weeknd - Save Your Tears (Alex Wann Remix)
Babyboy AV - Confession (ALX YAV Remix)
Olive - You're Not Alone (Amonita & Makebo Remix)
Andy Bros - Balera
Naomi Sharon - Daughter Of The Sun (Ankhoi Remix)
Cassius - The Sound Of Violence (Antony Toga Background DiscoVox Version)
Agnes Obel - Broken Sleep (Antrim Remix)
Bicep - Atlas (Antrim Remix)
Billie Eilish - No Time To Die (Antrim Remix)
Billie Eilish - Not My Responsibility (Antrim Remix)
Bjork - All is Full of Love (Antrim & Claudio Cornejo Unofficial Remix)
Bonobo - Linked (Antrim Edit)
Downtown Party Network ft. Egle Sirvydyte - Space Me Out (Antrim Remix)
Four Tet - Anna Painting (Antrim Remix)
Hernan Cattaneo & Soundexile - Cripsis (Antrim & Analog Jungs Unofficial Remix)
Hvob - Bloom (Antrim & CC Remix)
London Grammar - Oh Woman Oh Man (Antrim Remix)
London Grammar - Wasting My Young Years (Antrim Unofficial Remix)
London Grammar x Guy J - If You Lost (Antrim, Artfaq & Ezequiel Arias Bootleg)
Royksoop - Running to the Sea (Antrim Remix)
Arabic Piano & Keinemusik - The Two Lost Kings
KEENE, Arabic Piano - All Night (Original Mix)
ARODES - Rolling
Arodes & Fahlberg - She Asked me to Dance
Arodes & Martim Rolan - Nightcall
Makossa & Megablast featuring Cleydys Villalon - Soy Como Soy (Arodes Remix)
ARTBAT - Dark Knight
Avangart Tabldot - Ella
Awka - Give It To Me
STEVIE B - In my eyes (Awka remix)
Baron, Meloko - Me Gusta
Leon - Rise (Darmon & Baron FR Edit)
Bástian V feat. Emilie Rachel - Living For The Night (Original Mix)
Bomba Estéreo - DEJA (Bástian V Remix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88yJSbTlM0Y

We must obey laws but so do galaxies. In fact every particle every organism every planet every galaxy follows fine-tuned laws.

This can easily be explained by spontaneous order, that fine tuning couldn't have raised from forces being bound to their nature. As for "first cause" it could easily be a force similar to gravity that is also in it's nature to burst. Has less assumptions than a some magical artist that looks like a species that came relatively recently by all accounts.

The most basic are the laws of logic.

Actually the most basic are cause and effect. Logic has it's own form, if A, then B, ergo C. Cause and effect is also about actual demonstration instead of analysis, which is where logic applies.

Imagine for example a universe without the law of non-contradiction, then something could be true and false at the same time. What kind of universe would that be?

Pretty sure if there was a universe that existed like that there would be a reason it did. If it didn't collapse on itself it would have some type of metareasoning. Also, if contradiction was possible, there would be no problem with it by your own thought experiment; at most, things being more fluid would be chaotic, which is just appeal to adverse consequence more than an actual discussion of errancy.

we can hardly imagine an orderly universe based on anything but the laws of logic.

Is this more than a reflection of the way the human mind thinks? it sounds like it's reliant on cognitive bias. If it's not the case, then it's not the case, why are you trying to work on human perception?

then built upon the laws of logic are the laws of mathematics

Counting is also demonstratable, cause and effect once more.

and the universe obeys these laws as well. Can you imagine a universe where you couldn't count?

No. And if there was one, the inability to perceive it due to my brain adapting to this world wouldn't change it's existence. It would fail to exist because there's no reason to give such an idea credence.

Built upon the laws of mathematics are the laws of physics. Rules of light, energy, gravity, motion, and those laws are foundational to laws of chemistry and the laws of biology

Like evolution, the process answers in genesis wants to downplay if not discredit all the time? What's the point of relying on these laws when you have to say they have holes where your deity is supposed to fill? Why should I accept them by your only logic since it seems to have credence when you want to give it credence. Does it work or not?

The laws of the universe are woven together in an unseen tapestry.

That's collectivist, it's like when socialists try to say humanity is one organism just because we trade things at times and interact with each other. The laws may interplay but that's not "weaving", that's not some type of deep connection. Hell, saying they're woven implies some type of intent which can't be demonstrated besides say "SEE! THEY FIT TOGETHER! THERE'S NO WAY IT'S A COINCIDENCE!"

which must be just exactly right for life to be possible.

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Argument_from_fine_tuning
And again, complexity is not design. Complexity is complexity. It's a large scale collection of moving parts. Nothing necessitating a designer. At most, probability makes it difficult, not truly impossible.

if the universe is started by accident, why should there be any laws at all.

True, there's no real reason for there to have been laws. No reason not to, either. Nothing stopping the laws, just no real need for there to be structure. This is something dense people hate being reminded of, but neutrality isn't the same as taking a side. Again, it's complex, lack of a reason doesn't mean not doing it anyway. Especially since we're talking about a universe that doesn't work on rationality. Yeah, it's confined by logic, but just as people who don't know medicine are confined by disease regardless.

let alone a tapestry of laws perfectly suited for life.

I already mentioned dlogic so now, given repetition, I am free to resort to mockery since I would just be repeating myself otherwise.
You're fetishing existence, you're getting amazed at the universe working on its terms because it's outside of you, and because you're amazed, you need it to be magnificent in nature. As such, you're trying to deify it but that would be bad because your particular religion (which isn't even shown to be the one true God for whichever reason you believe) told you idolotry is bad. This is essentially just a cognitive bias of making everything into a bigger deal than it is. Except that would at least allow recognition for what its nature is, instead you describe it as a "tapestry suited for life" when it's a set of conditions that permitted life out of apathy.
At a certain point religion should be regarded as a drug addiction, this is the same type of conservation you get with people on shrooms.

where did these laws come from?

Again, you're just shoehorning your specific deity in here where a force comparable to gravity, electromagnetism, and the other fundamental forces would satisfy the need to explain where they came from with less assumptions about its nature (i.e. no reason to assume it's sentient when it doesn't have to be, no reason to assume it asserts a moral code that's less enforceable than other laws its created) than are needed to explain how something happened to begin with; essentially, don't use a pothole in the road as an excuse to build an airplane, no matter how deep it goes.

Newton, Kepler, and other founders of modern science assumed there are laws because God rules the universe.

And Richard Dawkins, Sean M. Carroll, Stephen Hawkings, and other atheist scientists disagree. At this point we admit the point is moot and discuss the arguments directly; and there's still no conclusive reason to believe in a deity rather than the Christ crackheads trying to run with every little speck of doubt they can find.

the bible says that God upholds all things by the word of his power.

And now we're ditching the other forms of theism and deism (the latter having it's own little watchmaker thought experiment) because the bible, which we are suppose to assume it's true because it's somehow the only real form of a deity, said that God powers stuff with words.
If this is about equating God's word with "logic" on the basis of both involving communication it seems to be as tenuously connected as saying that calculus and economics are the same because both involve numbers. To clarify, the Christian God is described as omnipotent and power miracles, it seems to surpass logic, and as such, assuming it's even real, the word is separate from the orderly analysis of logic. Hence the calculus economics analogy, it's just contradictory.
Then again, I haven't seen the rest of this video so I'll just see where it goes.

the laws of the universe come from God, and his word is the tapestry.

Damn, at least my thing new that words are closer to logic than to rules.
Seriously? Words aren't the things themselves, they're designators for convenience? Why would it be "God's word" rather than something more direct like "God's sight", "God's wisdom", "God's notion", or "God's will"?

that holds the laws together.

Yeah, nothing discounting the watchmaker deism if we even have to resort to a deity. Just "there are rules because God said so" because some how it's impossible for carbon atoms to act within their nature.

1. &ME & Black Coffee vs Xinobi & Lazarusman - The Rapture Pt.III & Searching For (ID Mashup)
2. &ME & RAMPA -TOG 4
3. &ME X Nadia Ali - Rapture On the Rapture Pt.II (Elias Kazais Mashup)
4. &ME, Black Coffee - The Rapture Pt.III (Eszco (Mont Rouge) & Krief Edit)
5. &ME, Black Coffee - The Rapture Pt.III Oh Lord
6. Abra - Feel (&ME Remix)
7. Joseph Ray, Lakou Mizik - Sanba Yo Pran Pale (&ME Remix)
8. Masšh - Ilanga (&Me Edit)
9. Simian Mobile Disco - Caught In A Wave (&ME Remix)
10. Unkle - Only You (&me Remix)
11. 16 Bit Lolitas - Earball (Old Track)
12. 16 Bit Lolitas - Johnny Likes Acid (Old Track)
13. 16 Bit Lolitas - Little Bird Dreams (Old Track)
14. 16 Bit Lolitas - Ready & Rare (Old Track)
15. 16 Bit Lolitas - The Funky Bastard (Old Track)
16. Abel Ray & Ted - Woman
17. Boghosian X Fela Kuti - Esta Vida (Water No Get Enemy) (Abel Ray Edit)
18. Bruno Furlan X Michael Gray - Bongoloco (The Weekend) (Abel Ray Edit)
19. Caiiro x Ye - The Pablo Akan (Abel Ray Edit)
20. Chambord X MJ - Mamentia (Don't Stop) (Abel Ray Edit)
21. Daryl Hall & John Oates - Out Of Touch (Kashovski & Abel Ray Private) V1
22. David Morales X Simo Lagnawi - The Gnawa Experience (Abel Ray Edit)
23. Dennis Ferrer, Sasse X Masters At Work - Work Transitions (Abel Ray Edit)
24. DJ Pappa X Simone - Morning Caminhando (Abel Ray Edit)
25. Fatboy Slim X Dennis Ferrer - Praise You (Abel Ray Edit)
26. FEX (IT) X AC - Cancun Tribalica (Abel Ray Edit)
27. Fiona Kraft x Drake - A Nomad Keeper (Abel Ray Edit)
28. GruuvElement's & Lucas Moss X Zhane - Front Da (Crush) (Abel Ray Edit)
29. John Creamer X Anna Reusch - Forget The World (Arabian Nights) (Ismael Rivas Factomania Remix Abel Ray Edit)
30. Kadosh X Lazarusman - Closer Enough To Heaven (Abel Ray Edit)
31. Kashovski & Abel Ray - Alright
32. Kashovski & Abel Ray - Baby
33. Kashovski & Abel Ray - Sunrise
34. Kashovski & Abel Ray - The Same
35. Léonce X Pharrell & Swae Lee - Airplane Runt (Abel Ray Edit)
36. Les Maçons De La Musique X Jay Z - No Time (Abel Ray Edit)
37. M.in X Bob Marley - Cruzando Jammin (Abel Ray Edit)
38. Mark Knight X LOSTBOYJAY - Brutal (Could Be Wrong) (Abel Ray Reboot)
39. Melé x Donald Glover - This Brooklyn Bounce (Abel Ray Edit)
40. Mera Bhai - Jama El F'na (Abel Ray Remix)
41. Moscoman & Kadosh (IL) feat. Stereo MC's - Free You (Sound Of Violence) (Super Flu Remix) (Abel Ray Edit)
42. Peggy Gou X Moojo - (It Goes Like) Fortress (Abel Ray Edit)
43. Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall (Abel Ray Edit)
44. Portishead - Glory Box (Abel Ray & Ted Remix)
45. Rampa & Sparrow & Barbossa X El Maar - Vatra Champion (Abel Ray Edit)
46. Robert Owens - I'll Be Your Friend (Dead Zone) (Abel Ray Edit)
47. Supermode X Hyenah - Tell Me Why (Balear) (Abel Ray Edit)
48. Thomas Gandey & Santiago Garcia X Khaled - Maghreb (Abdel Kader) (Abel Ray Edit)
49. Yaya X Pharrel Williams & Uffie - Ebi Awon (Abel Ray Edit)
50. Pablo Fierro, Kendrick Lamar - Amores Salvajes (United In Grief) (Abel Ray Edit)
51. Dua Lipa - Houdini (Adam Port Extended Mix)
52. Masšh & Adam Port feat. Ninae - All I Got (Original Mix)
53. Adam Ten - Carovana
54. Adam Ten - Cold Summer
55. Adam Ten - Kepler
56. Adam Ten - Magic Circus
57. Adam Ten, Aretha Frankly - A Deeper Love
58. Adriatique - Buchlas Dreaming (Happy Ending Edit)
59. Adriatique, WhoMadeWho - Miracle Rose Avenue (Instrumental Version)
60. Sin Cos Tan - Destroyer (Adriatique Remix)
61. Aera - Pullunder
62. Aera - Puzzle Emotivo V
63. Last Jimi On Jules - My Pixel's On Fire (Aera's Mashup)
64. OPUS III - It's A Fine Day (Aera's Finite Edit)
65. Schneider TM, Kptmichigan - The Light 3000 (Aera Private Edit)
66. Aether - Sonora
67. Agents Of Time - Don't Stop
68. Agustin Giri - Burning Bow
69. Agustin Giri - Radium
70. Agustin Giri, Folgar - Wrong Place
71. Not Alone - (AHLO Remix)
72. Ajna - Astro
73. Ajna - Move
74. Anja x Samm - Secundo
75. Mano, Ajna - Bottom
76. Sailor & I - Black Swan (Alex Niggemann Remix)
77. Adassiya - Sa Ansa (Alex Twin Remix)
78. Adele - Set Fire To The Rain (Alex Twin Bootleg)
79. Alex Twin - Together (Vocal Mix)
80. ALEX TWIN, Rbor - Bandido
81. Hey Hey X Let's Try (Alex Twin Edit)
82. Joezi - Amathole (Alex Twin Remix)
83. Lin Cortés - Novia Moderna (Alex Twin Edit)
84. Madonna - Music (Alex Twin Rework)
85. Most Beautiful (Alex Twin Remix)
86. Nino - Amor (Alex Twin Edit)
87. Robbie Akbal - Zero One (Alex Twin Remix)
88. Sérgio Mendes - Mas Que Nada (Alex Twin Edit)
89. Toto - Africa (Alex Twin Edit)
90. Alex Wann, Soubeiran, Nes Mburu - N’Gele 16khz
91. Healing x Say My Name Alex Wann Edit
92. Hugel, Alex Wann - Forever In My Mind
93. The Weeknd - Save Your Tears (Alex Wann Remix)
94. Babyboy AV - Confession (ALX YAV Remix)
95. Olive - You're Not Alone (Amonita & Makebo Remix)
96. Andy Bros - Balera
97. Naomi Sharon - Daughter Of The Sun (Ankhoi Remix)
98. Cassius - The Sound Of Violence (Antony Toga Background DiscoVox Version)
99. Agnes Obel - Broken Sleep (Antrim Remix)
100. Bicep - Atlas (Antrim Remix)
101. Billie Eilish - No Time To Die (Antrim Remix)
102. Billie Eilish - Not My Responsibility (Antrim Remix)
103. Bjork - All is Full of Love (Antrim & Claudio Cornejo Unofficial Remix)
104. Bonobo - Linked (Antrim Edit)
105. Downtown Party Network ft. Egle Sirvydyte - Space Me Out (Antrim Remix)
106. Four Tet - Anna Painting (Antrim Remix)
107. Hernan Cattaneo & Soundexile - Cripsis (Antrim & Analog Jungs Unofficial Remix)
108. Hvob - Bloom (Antrim & CC Remix)
109. London Grammar - Oh Woman Oh Man (Antrim Remix)
110. London Grammar - Wasting My Young Years (Antrim Unofficial Remix)
111. London Grammar x Guy J - If You Lost (Antrim, Artfaq & Ezequiel Arias Bootleg)
112. Royksoop - Running to the Sea (Antrim Remix)
113. Arabic Piano & Keinemusik - The Two Lost Kings
114. KEENE, Arabic Piano - All Night (Original Mix)
115. ARODES - Rolling
116. Arodes & Fahlberg - She Asked me to Dance
117. Arodes & Martim Rolan - Nightcall
118. Makossa & Megablast featuring Cleydys Villalon - Soy Como Soy (Arodes Remix)
119. ARTBAT - Dark Knight
120. Avangart Tabldot - Ella
121. Awka - Give It To Me
122. STEVIE B - In my eyes (Awka remix)
123. Baron, Meloko - Me Gusta
124. Leon - Rise (Darmon & Baron FR Edit)
125. Bástian V feat. Emilie Rachel - Living For The Night (Original Mix)
126. Bomba Estéreo - DEJA (Bástian V Remix)

Hello everyone and nice to meet you all.
I'm not very much into making videos, just did a few things for friends or some sort of funny video memes in the past (really, nothing special, totally noob). But I have a passion for something and had an idea a few days ago. I really would like to make a video out of several 12-hours continuous recordings videos.
I'll record several 12-hrs videos, I'd guess about 20ish, then I'll select parts, accelerate them dramatically, and finally compose a 30-45 minutes summary video out of all those hours of video-audio recording, adding also audio comments of mine, and very short videos and explanatory pictures on top of everything.
Video Recording
The first problem is actually recording 12-hours long videos! A phone cannot stand that much. Even if it could, I see the file size would be insane.
So, I guess I need to buy a camera (relatively low budget) with a proper memory card.
Then I'll record the first 12-hours video.
Copy it from the camera's memory card to a computer drive.
Empty the memory camera.
Repeat.
That's about the recording.
Quality and subjects
What shall I record? The shootings will occur outdoor, from early morning (approx. 6:00 am) to the sunset.
They will large panoramas recordings, but with also the need to catch some small objects at great distance. For example: A bird flying far away up in the sky. I'm not asking to see its feathers, but at least the bird should be fairly visible/distinguishable.
Sometimes, I'll have to aim the camera towards the sun. I won't directly shoot at the sun, but its strong light might get close to the periphery of the recorded area.
In other words, getting a camera that would give me fantastic details in close shootings, but then on such long distances it would miss details, would be pointless. If I see a bird flying in the sky, when I aim the camera at it, I need the camera to 'see' it as well, and to record it.
What I need the videocamera mostly is for LONG DISTANCE outdoor recordings... panoramas, sky, catching distant details (an airplane flying high, a distant car climbing the road on the hill in front of my location... a bird flying distant in the sky...)
Focus and zoom functions
I'll stick to the example of the bird: I guess I might need the ability to occasionally zoom-in and focus on the bird on the fly, while recording, and then to zoom back out again. So, the camera optics also need to be able to do a decent zoom in of VERY distant objects (Please, if I'm not asking too much, provide 2 suggestions: One for a camera with optics that I'd compare, as an analogy, to all-season tires in a car, and one with addable / replaceable optics, with the stock optics that I will use for the panorama shootings, and then an additional optic that I will replace or add on top of the stock one when I need to zoom in on those very distant objects, specifying the make an model of such accessory)
Close recording
I might need to also, occasionally, show things on the screen of my smartphone and put it right in front of the camera and show my phone in the video recording. But this is not absolutely necessary. I can do close recordings also with a secondary camera (or simply my old smartphone). These recordings will be short. Any tips on choosing such secondary camera, if you think my old smartphone (Samsung Galaxy S9) won't be good enough?
Codec
I see that, no matter how I record HD videos (smartphone, screen recording on my computer, etc.), even just after a 1 hour recording, the video file comes out immense. I can't imagine what a 12-hour video would be.
Any recommendations about choosing a good codec, bitrate settings, compression format, and so on?
Video processing PC
Finally, I don't want to fry my computer's SSD with those 20x 12-hrs videos. Any recommendations about getting a dedicated SSD? Type, size? And how much RAM would I need to import and work on a 12-hours such video, for example using Filmora Wondershare? Or do you recommend a different software? (But I still need it to be within the budget-personal hobby low range of expense, like Filmora is).
Thank you all so much, I apologize in advance if I missed some rule of this Reddit in posting my first post.
QUALITY
I should have specified that this is an entirely personal / hobby project, no need for pro quality.
You know those typical birthday or Christmas family recordings that we used to do in the 80s and early 90s with the typical family camcorders (Betamax... Video8,... whatever....)? Well like those. As long as the 'things' that I see with my eyes are seen in the video, it's okay. So, again, going back to the flying bird at a distance... as long as we can see the bird in the recorded video, it's okay.
I specified that not because I need PRO level quality, but because sometimes there was a beautiful huge moon in the sky, I pulled out my smartphone, took photographs and videos, and what in real life looked like a beautiful huge moon, in the pictures/videos was a tiny bright dot, barely perceivable. So, okay, I get that it's not a PRO camera, but if there is a thing in the sky, and I see that thing with my eyes, I expect to 'see' that same thing in the recorded video... not a tiny fraction of it.
FORM POINTS:
BUDGET: Ideally (I hope I'm not dreaming) approx. 300ish Euros only for the camera (excluding possible additional optics)
USE: Already specified above
HOW LONG TO RECORD FOR: As above
EQUIPMENT I ALREADY HAVE: • A suitable workstation laptop (i7 11th gen, GeForce 3070, 16 GB Ram, NVMe SSD) • Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 USB
WHAT SOFTWARE: I did something with Filmora
Thanks again!

Realizing now just how many speakers in Mormondom love a good (well, good might be a stretch) analogy. And how much weight goes into finding analogies.
I can hear Renlund talking about kayaking and how if you Kayak hard in the wrong direction you won’t end up in the intended destination.
Like… no shit bro?? Just reuse one of Uchtdorf’s superior airplane analogies and call it a day.
What’s the weirdest/weakest analogy you heard at church?

This post was authored by user "HanSingular" and it was removed, I'm saving it here for posterity.
`Sources list for convenient copy-pasting:
[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]
This post was inspired by "IT'S NOT RICO, DAMMIT" by Ken White.
Full disclosure: I am not a lawyer. However, none of the analysis below is my own, and my sources are extensively cited and exceedingly qualified.
"In the absence of my own knowledge of a particular thing, I am going to find the best authority I can. - Tim Minchin

It looks like you’re hoping that Donald Trump and/or one of his associates will be convicted of treason and possibly executed for it.

It is my sad duty to inform you that this outcome is legally impossible since the United States was not in a state of open war with Russia in 2016, and no one involved in the scandal was personally part of a militia or terrorist organization which sought to attack the US government through force. Whatever Trump & Co. are eventually charged with, if anything, it will not be treason. My previous conversations Redditors on this topic allow me to anticipate some of the most common responses. Allow me to address them here:

You're just saying this to defend Donald Trump.

I voted for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, in that order. My second-highest upvoted comment of all time is me just verbatim quoting the Steele dossier, and my 4th highest is me making fun of the pizza-gate conspiracy.
I hate Donald Trump, and I don't doubt that he is guilty of money laundering, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Nothing would please me more than to see him spend the rest of his life in jail for the crimes he is actually guilty of. But, I'm also an asshole who enjoys being technically correct about things, so here we are.

What bullshit, right-leaning news sites are you getting this interpretation of treason law from?

• The Washington Post: Five myths about treason
  
• The Washington Post: Treason: Dissing President Trump it's not. Here's what is.
  
• The Washington Post: Trump ‘treason’ in Helsinki? It doesn’t hold up.
  
• Vox: What Donald Trump Jr. did was wrong and maybe illegal. But it wasn’t treason.
  
• Vox: Even if Trump’s team coordinated with Russia, it’s still not treason: “Treason” has a specific definition.
  
• The Huffington Post: Trump’s ‘High Crimes’ — Not Treason.
  
• NPR: Could Donald Trump Jr. Be Charged With Treason? Short Answer: No
  
• GQ: Did Donald Trump Jr. Commit Treason with Russia? The Law, Explained
  
• USA Today: Did Donald Trump Jr. commit treason with Russia meeting? Not likely, experts say
  
• Washington Monthly: Why Donald Trump is Not a Traitor
  
• NBC News THINK: Will President Trump be charged with collusion in 2018? Not a chance.
  
• NBC News THINK: Americans have forgotten what 'treason' actually means — and how it can be abused
  
• Market Watch: Is Trump treasonous? Here’s the legal and historical answer to that charge
  
• PolitiFact: A closer look at claims of treason after Trump's meeting with Russian President Putin
  
• Chicago Tribune: Treason' might not mean what you think it means.
  

Well, what do they know?

• The first of the two Washington Post articles was written by a UC Davis law professor.
  
• The GQ article was written by a Harvard Law School alum.
  
• The USA today article cites tweets by a UT Law School professor. The second of the two NBC News THINK articles was written by that same law professor.
  
• and a D.C. national security attorney,
  
• and statements from a CNN legal analyst.
  
• The NPR article interviewed a former White House ethics lawyer
  
• and a Yale Law School lecturer.
  
• The Washington Monthly article was written by (one man who is) an emeritus professor at UCLA, a professor of public policy at New York University, and an adjunct scholar at the Center for American Progress.
  
• The first of the two NBC News THINK article was written by a Loyola Law School professor.
  
• The Chicago Tribune piece was written by a professor of law at Wayne State University.
  

It's actually still treason because....

Seriously? Did you look at my sources? Did you check their qualifications? Five of them are professors or lecturers at law schools. Even if you don't understand why the Trump-Russia scandal legally isn't treason yet, that amount of expert consensus should give you pause. If you still want debate this, I'd argue that, at this point, you're engaging in the legal equivalent of climate change denialism: ignoring expert consensus just because you don't like its implications.

The Rosenbergs were executed for selling secrets to the soviets when the US wasn't in an open war with them!

The Rosenbergs were convicted of “Conspiracy to Commit Espionage” under the Espionage Act of 1917, not treason under Article III.

Interfering in the election was an act of war!

People making this argument seem to be under the impression that if a country or organization perpetrates an "act of war" against the United States, that anyone who helped them commit that act, or helps them later, is automatically guilty of treason. While that's certainly in keeping with the colloquial definition of treason, it's just not how US treason law actually works. The term "act of war" doesn't even appear in Article III of the US Constitution.
Treason is the only crime explicitly defined by the US Constitution. (Other crimes, like piracy and counterfeiting are mentioned, but it was left to Congress to define them later.) Why the special treatment for treason? The framers of the Constitution hated that, in England, the charge of "treason" could be used to execute any political enemy of the crown. So, treason was defined in the Constitution so as to carefully limit its use.
Article III, Section 3 of the United States Constitution says:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

Let's start with "levying War." It does not mean simply 'to attack.' After Aaron Burr was charged with treason for allegedly trying to abscond to Louisiana to found an independent republic, the Supreme Court affirmed in United States v. Burr that:

War can only be levied by the employment of actual force; troops must be embodied, men must be assembled in order to levy war. ... [T]o constitute this crime, troops must be embodied; men must be actually assembled...

In Cramer v. United States (1945), the Supreme Court held that "the crime of treason consists of two elements: adherence to the enemy; and rendering him aid and comfort." As a prerequisite to treason, there must be an enemy, and American courts fairly specifically define an enemy as "the subjects of a foreign power in a state of open hostility with us" (United States v. Greathouse). A state of open hostility does not arise out of an "act of war" alone. A state of open hostility comes into existence only when the offended state chooses to recognize the act of war as one and treat/respond to it as such, and the United States was clearly not in a state of open war with Russia in 2016.

Who said "actual force" has to be guns? Couldn't cyberwarfare be a form of "levying war?"

Probably yes, but not in this case.

"When force is applied directly against the United States government for the purpose of incapacitating it, it shouldn’t matter that the force used is electronic. I think all of the following would easily qualify: using a computer to hack into the Pentagon and launch a nuclear missile against Washington, DC; hacking into an airplane’s computer and directing it to fly into the White House; and creating an electric surge that renders the nation’s power grid unusable.....
...other types of cybercrimes don’t easily analogize to treason. For example, hacking into an organization to steal its documents seems most analogous to a burglary. As far as I’m aware, no one thought the Watergate burglars were guilty of treason. Likewise, hacking into a voting machine to change the results seems most analogous to ballot stuffing or ballot tampering. A crime has clearly been committed, but not the crime of treason."

— Carlton F.W. Larson, "Treason and Cyberwarfare"

But the Pentagon and NATO said cyber attacks are acts of war.

The Pentagon said they were going to classify cyber attacks as "acts of war" back in 2011, but they never actually did it. As for NATO, US criminal courts aren't bound by international treaties.
And in both cases, even if NATO and the Pentagon both declared cyber attacks "acts of war," AND if that somehow magically made it a law that US criminal courts had to recognize, that still wouldn't make Russia an enemy with respect to treason law. Russia perpetrating an "attack" or even an "act of war" against the United States isn't enough. The Untied States' armed forces must respond before there can be said to be a state of open war, and they had clearly not done so at the time of the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting.

A cyberattack only creates a state of war if the attacked nation chooses to treat it as such. Russian cyberattacks on American democracy could potentially be viewed as acts of war, but if, and only if, the United States declares them to be so and responds in kind. And so far we have not.

— Carlton F.W. Larson, a professor of law at UC Davis, "Treason and Cyberwarfare""

Well, couldn't Russia's army of paid internet trolls still be considered an "assemblage of people" who intend to use "actual force" against the government?

No.

What if we later decided to go to war with Russia over the election hacking? Couldn't we then charge Trump & Co. with treason for helping the attack that started that war?

That would be violation of ex post facto law.

The absolute rock-bottom principle of criminal law in a free society has to be that it’s possible to know whether one is or is not breaking the law, and that it’s not possible to become a criminal retrospectively when Oceania goes to war with Eastasia."

—Mark A. R. Kleiman, emeritus professor at UCLA, a professor of public policy at New York University, and an adjunct scholar at the Center for American Progress, "Why Donald Trump is Not a Traitor"

Under basic principles of due process, a person must have notice that the United States is treating a particular country as an enemy. Arguments that a particular nation should be treated as an enemy are not enough. There must be objective evidence of official United States policy. This is easy to do for the Taliban government of Afghanistan, or even non-governmental actors such as Al Qaeda or ISIS. But what facts indicate any such treatment of Russia by the United States government? In particular, what facts put Donald Trump, Jr. on notice in June 2016 that Russia was an enemy for purposes of American treason law? In the 2012 presidential debates, President Barack Obama mocked Mitt Romney for suggesting that Russia was a significant threat to the United States (in retrospect, Romney was on to something). Nothing the Obama Administration did looks like treating Russia like an enemy. Telling Vladimir Putin to “cut it out” hardly counts.

Moreover, there is no such thing as a “quasi-enemy” under American treason law. If Russia was an enemy in June 2016, it was an enemy for all purposes. That would mean that any provision of aid and comfort to Russia by any person owing allegiance to the United States was not just illegal, but treason, a capital crime. Any person advising a Russian business, any lawyer representing Russian interests, any person registered as an agent for Russia, perhaps even someone doing an interview on Russian television— all would be equally guilty of treason. The suggestion is absurd, but that is the logical consequence of accepting Russia as an enemy under our treason law.
— Carlton F.W. Larson, a professor of law at UC Davis, "Russia and 'Enemies' under the Treason Clause"

What if an American citizen helped plan the Pearl Harbor attack. Prior to the attack, Japan wasn’t technically an enemy, but it would seem ludicrous to say the American didn’t commit treason. By analogy, Americans who aided Russia before the election interference are in the same position.

There are two problems with this argument. First, the United States has not responded to Russian election meddling in the same way that we responded to Pearl Harbor. Second, although it is hard to believe, it may well be that an American who helped plan the Pearl Harbor attack did not commit treason, at least treason by aiding the enemy. The treatise of Michael Foster, perhaps the most influential treason treatise in early American law, considered the situation of an Englishman who persuaded a foreign country to attack England. Foster concluded:

The offence of inciting foreigners to invade the kingdom is a treason of signal enormity. In the lowest estimation of things and in all possible events, it is an attempt, on the part of the offender, to render his country the seat of blood and desolation; and yet, unless the powers so incited happen to be actually at war with us at the time of such incitement, the offence will not fall within any branch of the statute of treasons, except that of compassing the king’s death.

In other words, persuading a country technically at peace with the United States to attack the United States is not an act of adhering to the enemy. Foster’s solution was to punish the persuasion as an act of compassing the king’s death, but that provision was deliberately removed from American treason law.

— Carlton F.W. Larson, a professor of law at UC Davis, "Russia and 'Enemies' under the Treason Clause"

Nice try distracting me with all this "levying war" stuff, but the constitution says treason is levying war OR giving aid or comfort to enemies of the United States, and Russia interfered in the 2016 election, and that makes them our enemy.

“...enemies are defined very precisely under American treason law. An enemy is a nation or an organization with which the United States is in a declared or open war. Nations with whom we are formally at peace, such as Russia, are not enemies.”

— Carlton F.W. Larson, a professor of law at UC Davis, "Five Myths About Treason"

"Here the word “enemies” means nations with which we are at war. We are not currently at war with Russia, and therefore one cannot commit treason by aiding Russia, even if the aid meant swaying the 2016 presidential election."

— Jessica Levinson, a professor of law at Loyola Law School, "Will President Trump be charged with collusion in 2018? Not a chance."

Whatever one thinks of Russia, Vladimir Putin, or the current state of relations between it/them and the United States, we are not at war with Russia. Full stop. Russia is therefore not an “enemy” of the United States. Full stop. Collaborating with Russia is a serious allegation, and may violate other federal laws. But treason is something very special, unique, and specific under U.S. law...

— Stephen Vladeck, a professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law, "Calling it Treason Doth Never Prosper…"

...there is no such thing as a “quasi-enemy” under American treason law. If Russia was an enemy in June 2016, it was an enemy for all purposes. That would mean that any provision of aid and comfort to Russia by any person owing allegiance to the United States was not just illegal, but treason, a capital crime. Any person advising a Russian business, any lawyer representing Russian interests, any person registered as an agent for Russia, perhaps even someone doing an interview on Russian television— all would be equally guilty of treason. The suggestion is absurd, but that is the logical consequence of accepting Russia as an enemy under our treason law.

— Carlton F.W. Larson, "Russia and 'Enemies' under the Treason Clause"

"If 'enemy' simply means a country whose government makes efforts to damage U.S. national interests, then whether someone is a “traitor” becomes a mere question of opinion (or, as Talleyrand said, 'just a matter of dates'). Anyone working in tandem with a foreign government might find himself charged with treason. The absolute rock-bottom principle of criminal law in a free society has to be that it’s possible to know whether one is or is not breaking the law, and that it’s not possible to become a criminal retrospectively when Oceania goes to war with Eastasia."

— Mark A. R. Kleiman, emeritus professor at UCLA, a professor of public policy at New York University, and an adjunct scholar at the Center for American Progress, "Why Donald Trump is Not a Traitor"

"The Treason Clause applies only to disloyal acts committed during times of war. Acts of dis-loyalty during peacetime are not considered treasonous under the Constitution. Nor do acts of Espionage committed on behalf of an ally constitute treason. For example, Julius and Ethel rosenberg were convicted of espionage, in 1951, for helping the Soviet Union steal atomic secrets from the United States during World War II. The Rosenbergs were not tried for treason because the United States and the Soviet Union were allies during World War II."

— West's Encyclopedia of American Law

"...as outlined in Cramer v. United States, a 1945 Supreme Court case that overturned the conviction of a German-born U.S. citizen, the Court made clear that the provision of "aid and comfort" has to consist of an affirmative act, and must occur during wartime. The United States has its share of beefs with the Kremlin right now, but as you may have noticed, we're neither sending troops to nor launching missiles at Russia right now, and they're not doing that to us, either. At least for now."

— Jay Willis, Harvard Law School alum, "Did Donald Trump Jr. Commit Treason with Russia? The Law, Explained"

Russian mercenaries attacked a U.S. base in Deir Ezzor. We can charge Trump with treason now, right?

Remember, it's not them attacking us that legally creates a state of "open hostility," it's us attacking them. And, regardless of whether or not you think we should have, the USA has not responded to the attack in Deir Ezzor with a sustained military response against Russia. Instead, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis chose to deescalate the situation by playing dumb and calling it a "perplexing situation," and declined to directly blame Russia for the incident.

The U.S. killed Russian mercenaries in an air strike! We're at war with Russia now!

We are not at war with Russia because the policy of the United States, as unambiguously expressed by our foreign policy... Despite whatever incidents you want to point to, no matter how hard you try to muddy these waters, United States policy is crystal clear. There is no war with Russia... A single incident does not make a war. A consistent military effort does.

— user "Slobotic" of /Ask_Lawyers

Well, I didn't go to law school, but according to legaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com....

I hate you.

Well, Trump is still guilty of [some other crime]

Probably, but [some other crime] isn’t treason.

People can be charged with treason without a formal declaration of war

You're probably right!
The reason Trump & Co. can't be charge with treason is often given as, "because Congress hasn't issued a formal declaration of war." This is a common misconception. A formal declaration of war by Congress would most definitely make any subsequent provision of aid or comfort to Russia treason. (Remember, it can't be before because of ex post facto law.) However, a formal declaration of war may not actually be necessary for a treason conviction. Whether or not any treason conviction without a formal declaration of war by congress is possible is currently in something of a legal gray-area because, while not an explicit requirement, post-Cramer, there's never been a treason conviction without one. (The last time someone was actually convicted of treason in the United States was in 1952 for crimes committed during WWII.) There are, however, those who feel that this should be challenged, now that formal declarations of war are clearly no longer part of international politics.
To that end, there was one post WWII charge of treason, in 2006, made against an Al Qaeda propagandist from the USA, but he was killed in a drone strike, rather than captured and tried, so we don't know if the charges would have stuck or not.
But, since he was a member of Al-Qaeda, his conviction would not have challenged United States v. Burr, which found that "levying war" requires an assemblage of people who intend to use actual force against the government, nor would it have broadened the legal definition of "enemies" such that it could include Russia.
Indeed, a law professor who published a paper arguing that

...many terrorist actions are appropriately punished as treason, either as acts of levying war against the United States or of adhering to their enemies,

is the very same law professor who, in the Washington Post, said,

Russia is a strategic adversary whose interests are frequently at odds with those of the United States, but for purposes of treason law it is no different than Canada or France or even the American Red Cross. The details of the alleged connections between Russia and Trump officials are therefore irrelevant to treason law.
This was true even in the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War. When Julius and Ethel Rosenberg handed over nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, they were tried and executed for espionage, not treason. Indeed, Trump could give the U.S. nuclear codes to Vladimir Putin or bug the Oval Office with a direct line to the Kremlin and it would not be treason, as a legal matter. Of course, such conduct would violate various laws and would constitute grounds for impeachment as a “high crime and misdemeanor” — the framers fully understood that there could be cases of reprehensible disloyalty that might escape the narrow confines of the treason clause.

Or, as Mark Kleiman put it:

Of course, the “declaration of war” by Congress has now been rendered somewhat obsolete by changes in international practice. Even absent such a declaration, we’re clearly “at war” with a country or other entity with whose forces our forces are currently exchanging gunfire. Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS are currently our “enemies.” But Saudi Arabia, despite what I am convinced was the direct involvement of senior officials and even members of the royal family in planning and financing the 9/11 attacks and other terrorist attacks, is not our “enemy” in that sense. And neither is Russia.`

Sorry if this is not the place to put this. If not, mods, please remove it.
So a little background about me. At my last job, i was fortunate to have a project that involved 3D, I was doing web development, scripting and automation.
A VP wanted me to look into AR and Ready Player me (3D avatars) so I was placed to do some R&D.
So I taught myself ThreeJS while at my last job and I delivered a solution. This was the first time I worked with 3D professionally.
When I was a teenager, I really loved 3d and always wanted to do something with it. I used to practice with 3dsmax, maya, zbrush etc, doing things like box modelling, sculpting, UV unwrapping and just learning the practical stuff. I never took it seriously because I talked myself out of pursuing a career with it. I thought I would never have the skills to beat any of the talent out there. (I still think this is true today) and so I stopped pursuing it until now. So after so many years, I finally had this random project that I thought would never come and im there working with 3d. I was very excited and happy but then shortly after I was laid off. That was the end of my 3d journey. Im a bit down because I thought this was going to be the start of my career in 3D but no…
Im still trying to hold on to hope and see if I can find something in my next journey.
Im not really a 3D developer. I’ve come to find 3D programming is very intensive with a lot of math, beyond the practical.
I only have GED level math, So me being a 3D programmer is kind of out of the question unless some crazy company would be willing to give me a chance and I can grow with it, which is highly unlikely, so im not holding my breath.
I really want to find a job that has something to do with 3D, anything. I want to start off at the absolute bottom in some way. I want to be the guy holding the mop and bucket, the burger flipper of 3D, all the way at the bottom. Because I just want to have a full time job that involves 3D somehow. Im willing to work minimum wage for it (im American, living in US). However, I need to a job that pays close to $20/hr full time (40+ hours) in order to be okay.
There are a few challenges im facing.

1. what job titles/positions are there that are considered ‘at the bottom’. Something nobody wants to do, a grunt worker. Using the analogy of fast food restaurant. I want to be a store manager one day but to get my foot in the door, ill be a mopper. As long as im in an area where theres 3D involved with it and I can learn and grow.
2. Where the hell does one even find these kind of jobs. I look at indeed in my area (New York City area) and I don’t of 3d anything on there. Perhaps im not using the proper keywords to search.

So yes, I only have practical experience, I don’t even know if there’s something out there for a person such as myself. I only understand the high level view of 3d concepts.
For example, I know concepts like normal map, bump map, displacement map, diffuse map, subsurface scattering, UV Unwrapping, 3D character rigging, Quads vs Triangles, Physics, and more.
However, If someone told me to create a character or rig it straight from memory without the help of Google or YouTube, ill most definitely fail. This is why im looking for a ‘crappy’ 3d job if such a thing exists. Plus i dont have a portofolio. What i do have is very laughable and i could only hope it shows some of my practicality with 3D in general
Below are some things that I touched on. I had done more work in the past but I've lost my works over the years.
By looking at the crap i have below. Do you think I have what it takes to get something? Anything? or Am looking into a field where you need to be built like Dwayne (the rock) Johnson to even be considered for the chump leagues?
Again, most of my examples are in threejs, but thats only because I’ve worked with it for close to a year. Im not a 3d programmer by any means. I just have practical experience.
Augmented Reality experience in the web browser (uses ThreeJS, TensorFlow Machine Learning models) (Only works on Desktop Computers) https://ar.itprofessionalnj.com/
A simple dumb 3d model created in blender https://minio.itprofessionalnj.com/images/drug-bunny.png
A simple dumb 3d model created in blender https://minio.itprofessionalnj.com/images/cute-bear.webp
ThreeJS – Ready Player me loading characters and using mixamo animations https://minio.itprofessionalnj.com/videos/portfolio/ready-player-me/rpm-mixamo-animations-threejs.mp4
ThreeJS – Ready Player Me avatar loaded in 3D environment. https://minio.itprofessionalnj.com/videos/portfolio/ready-player-me/rpme.mp4
ThreeJS – Simple dumb 3d cube that’s being moved by pressing WASD buttons in keyboard
https://minio.itprofessionalnj.com/videos/portfolio/threejs/rotating-moving-cube.mp4
ThreeJS – Simple dumb (terribly animated airplane) with collision
https://minio.itprofessionalnj.com/videos/portfolio/threejs/airplane-threejs.mp4
Im hoping someone can help me out there. I feel like maybe I might have a shot out there to work in something in 3D. If not, ill once again just have to let go of this silly dream and get a real job doing something else. Thanks for all your help

The LOV are rather prolific terrorists, with quite the rap sheet... but sometimes one can forget just how bad that list of crimes is. To somewhat draw things into focus, let's try and find a few real people to compare them against.
​
Starting with Spinner and Mr Compress, they're just normal murderers. Terrible, awful crime, but not all too special. For a particular person, I'll choose Woollin from the English murder case R. v. Woollin. Not for any particular resemblance between them, but because they're both low tier murderers, and I find Woollin's crime kind of funny.
Then there's Toga, who would probably be best suited by Jack the Ripper, the infamous serial killer. The death count isn't historically high, but the method of killing is pretty gruesome. And, y'know, it's still serial murder.
​
Moving onto Dabi, I'd probably choose Ted Bundy, for the general 30ish killcount of them both. Ted had some other crimes, but Dabi can make up for that by his killings being through immolation, which is a very bad way to go. And, y'know, supporting Shiggy in his quest to end the world. That's an problem all of these people have which lacks many real life analogies, because Shiggy is pretty uniquely evil in that goal.
​
He's also uniquely evil in kill count. There is no easy comparison to make, but were I forced to make one, I'd say he's like Osama Bin Laden, if instead of airplanes he descended on New York in a giant mechsuit in 2001. The damage is unfathomable, he has a higher kill count than the top 100 serial killers put together, and he has it by a very wide margin. He would be public enemy number 0.1, the rage people would have against him would defy all reason.
​
I feel like drawing some actual comparisons between real awful murderous people can do some good in contextualizing how bad the LOV is. One should remember that real people have committed similar crimes, and if you're going to kinda handwave them away, you're going to have to extend that liberty to people you probably don't think deserve it.

TLDR: The disappointment is because I got a lot of thermal throttling when playing PS2 games. I got it under control by tweaking some configurations, but I didn’t expect to have this kind of problems.
As for the Retroid Pocket 3+, while the S20 FE does more and better, it made me see that the RP3+ already does a lot and very well.
For those interested I will give more details about the experience and my conclusions from it (if you want to see only the conclusions you can skip to the end). And I want to apologize in advance for anything stupid I might write as it will be a long text and English is not my native language.
I had this Galaxy S20 FE for 3 years and it was one of the best phones I ever had, but it also seems to be the perfect device to turn into a handheld as it has a SD865, 8GB of RAM, a Micro SD card slot and a 6.5” amoled screen (about 5.5” for 16:9 content). Also the G8 Galileo is a very comfortable controller that pairs really well with it and has usb passtrough charging and a headphone jack. So, when the time came I bought a new phone and gave a new purpose for my old phone. So I’ll tell my impressions about it’s performance on different systems and compare it with the RP3+.
Note: It is important to consider that the S20 FE has different versions, some use an Exynos chip instead of a Snapdragon and some have only 6GB of RAM so the experience may be different from the one I have for those devices.
Retro Systems
For any console up to PS1 and handheld up to GBA both devices have more than enough power to play everything perfectly. It’s not a surprise since even much weaker devices like the Miyoo Mini and the RG35XX can do it. But here you have all the advanced options that some cheaper devices lack or are not as good at, such as shaders, upscaling, fast forward, rewind and retroachievements. I use Retroarch for those systems.
It’s nice to consider that the RP3+ has some advantages on those games retro in regard of controls. First, it has the DPAD above the analog stick, which is usually better for retro gaming.
Another thing that is very important to me is that the right analog sitck on RP3+ is very recessed so it doesn’t get in the way of your thumb when you’re playing games that require you to press both Y and B at the same time (nintendo layout) like Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country or Megaman X. Almost all the telescopic controllers I’ve seen have this problem of having a tall thumbstick right under the face buttons and its kind of a dealbreaker for me. You can change the position you hold the controller to get around this, but it makes my wrist hurt. Luckily that’s not a problem with the G8 Galileo as it allows you to change the thumbstick for a smaller one or take it off completely.
N64
N64 emulation using M64Plus Fz is almost perfect on both devices. Even hard games to emulate like Perfect Dark, Smash Bros and Pokemon Stadium 2 run at full speed upscaled to 1080p. (Pokémon Stadium 2 has some minor graphical glitches even on the most accurate settings, but it happens even on PC.)
I love to play Pokemon Stadium 2 on these devices because the emulator allows you to emulate a transfer pak and transfer pokemon from the save of a GB/GBC rom to play on Stadium. And it is playable at 200% speed on both devices.
For some games you may prefer using the Mupen64 Plus core on Retroarch as it allows widescreen hacks and retroachievements. Mario Kart 64 is a good example.
Dreamcast
Only tested on RP3+, but seems to be excellent on both. The recommended emulators are redream and flycast. I use flycast because it’s free and allows upscaling (redream just allows upscaling in the paid version).
I tested Crazy Taxi, Dead or Alive 2, Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Sonic Adventure 2 and everything played well at 2x resolution.
NDS
Until this day the best way to play NDS is using an actual NDS or 3DS, unless you want to use fast forward on pokemon games. Both devices can run it very well using the Drastic app and allow fast forward and upscaling. Both have touchscreen and a large display to show the NDS screens side by side. On this system the S20FE has two advantages: The 20:9 screen is has more space to show both the NDS screens at the same time and also can be used vertically if you want to.
PSP
PPSSPP is an excellent and very mature emulator and, in my opnion, that is the system where the RP3+ really shines. It can play PSP upscaled to 3x to match the screen resolution and runs very well. Also the 16:9 screen is excellent for PSP content.
The S20FE does the same, but better. It can upscale it to 4x to match the1080p screen and, while the 20:9 is not fully utilized, the usable are is bigger and the amoled panel is excellent.
On both devices the experience is excellent and much better than playing it on a PSP or PS VITA, IMO, since the upscaled games look like remastered versions.
3DS
Citra was having great progress and becoming much better in the last year, it’s a shame the development has halted as collateral damage from the Yuzu DMCA takedown. Anyway the emulator can still be used and works well for many games.
On RP3+ I was able to play Mario Kart 7 at 1.5x upscaling and 60fps, with some drops and audio stuttering, but still very playable. I recommend looking for the RP3+ compatibility sheet for information on other titles.
On S20FE the experience was a lot better. Mario Kart 7 ran very well at 2x upscaling, with some dips only when compiling cache. I also tested Street Fighter IV 3D edition and it was not enjoyable, but it seems to be limitation on the emulator. It seems to me that the device is more than capable for 3DS emulation, but the emulator has to catch up.
PS Vita
The Vita3K emulator is still on very early stage of development, but already shows very good progress so far.
I tested some titles on RP3+ but it doesn’t seem that it has enough power to play 3D Vita games. But I was able to play Dragon’s Crown and it runs very well.
The S20FE, on the other hand, seems to be very capable of running vita games. The emulator can’t play some games I was interested yet, like Marvel vs Capcom 3, but I was able to run a game that was not in the official compatibility list (Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus, I know, you’re gonna judge me for this lol) and it ran well.
GameCube
Dolphin is a good and mature emulator and there are the MMJR and MMJR2 versions that run better on weaker devices.
The RP3+ actually surprised me here as I could ran more games than I thought I would. Using Dolphin MMJR I got games like Soul Calibur 2 and Mario Kart Double Dash running at 1.5X and stable 50fps (using PAL roms). Pokémon Colosseum runs at good speed, but has graphical glitches.
On S20FE I had similar results, but using the Dolphin main release and 3x upscaling. Even the glitches on Pokémon Colosseum were the same.
I didn’t test many games, but everything I tryied was playable on both devices.
PS2
Here is the point where the S20FE really shows how much more powerful than the RP3+ it is and where my disappointment starts.
The PS2 emulation on android is ok but has seen no evolution in quite some time. The emulator options are just AetherSX2, that has been abandoned by the developer, and NetherSX2, that is a tweaked version of AetherSX2.
On RP3+ almost none of the PS2 games I was interested ran well enough for me to consider it playable so I just gave up trying. The only game I was able to run at full speed was Prince of Persia The sands of Time, but I didn’t play enough to see if it would keep the performance through the gameplay.
The S20FE has enough power to play PS2 games, but in few minutes of gaming it started to show thermal throttle and drops in the fps. I was able to get around this doing some tweaks and now the performance is stable with only some small drops in fps here and there. The tweaks I did are:

• Turn on “Alternate game performance management” inside Labs option on the Game Booster menu. It increased the thermal throttling threshold from 42º to 46º.
• Turn on Airplane Mode
• Put any unused apps on deep sleep
• Turn on battery saving mode to limit CPU usage to 70% (I am not sure if it affect games but it sure affects anything else running in background)

Its important to notice that the emulator doesn’t have full compatibility with all the games so some games run poorly on it, like Soul Calibur 3 that has severe FPS drops on some stages.
Switch
Probably everybody knows about the recent drama on Switch emulation so I’m not gonna say much about this.
RP3+ can only play some really lightweight games, like Celeste.
On S20FE it was hit and miss. I didn’t play for very long but many games, like Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, seem to be running very well but Smash Bros couldn’t keep constant 60fps and caused thermal throttle. (I do own physical copies of those games, please don’t kill me Nintendo).
Maybe it gets better in the future but for now some games that are playable on better chips are not good enough on this one.
Android games
I tested some games from netflix subscription and on RP3+. 2D games like Dead Cells and TMNT Shredder’s Revenge ran great, but GTA Vice City and San Andreas had poor FPS even on the lowest settings.
On S20FE GTA games run perfectly on max settings. I also used to play Genshin Impact on it and it can run on MAX settings 60fps, but the phone gets really hot and it consumes too much battery so I prefer to set it to medium 30fps.
Streaming
I tested both Moonlight and Steam link on RP3+ and it worked fine, but the small screen is less than ideal for this, also the controls are not very good and the ergonomics are poor for games that use the analog sticks and the triggers at the same time (but it gets a lot better if you use a grip case, so I highly recommend to get one if you want to stream on it. The same is true for RP4/RP4 PRO).
On S20FE the experience is a lot better, the screen is bigger and some games can scale to use all of it. The controls and ergonomics on G8 Galileo are excellent. But for me the screen is still a bit too small for this. Some games are perfectly playable, but for others a bigger screen is much more comfortable.
Conclusions
The biggest conclusion I’ve got after all the hassle to run PS2 games on the S20FE is that I don’t really want to play most of these games on it lol. When testing Burnout 3 most of the times I couldn’t see the cars fast enough to avoid them due to the small screen. Then I tried the game on PC and it was so much better. I also played some God of War 2 and remembered playing it on my PS Vita some years ago and wishing to have a bigger screen to play it more comfortably.
So while it can run a lot of games, not all of them will be enjoyable.
Also, while the G8 Galileo is an excellent controller, it’s not very portable so it’s better for playing indoors.
Still, there is a huge collection of games that are super fun to play on it and I think I reached a point where I will just stop wanting a better device and seeking configurations to squeeze the most of my devices and I will start to actually play and enjoy the devices I already have.
And about the RP3+? Do I recommend it?
Well, my conclusion about it is that, while it can play only up to PSP and GameCube, it plays a huge amount of things that I actually want to play on a small screen.
My objective when I got the RP3+ was to have a dedicated device to play pokemon rom hacks. But then I got amazed with how well it plays PSP, got carried away and started to want more devices lol. But in the end it was already excellent for my initial purpose and more. In fact the only thing that bothers me on it is the START and SELECT button placement on top of the device, I will never forgive retroid for doing this.
So if you find a really good deal for this, maybe under 100 USD, I would say it is worth it. But if you are buying new I’d say no. Now the RP4 and RP4 Pro exist and they fix all the complaints I had about the RP3+ and have a lot more power, so they would be a much better choice.
Another good option is the Anbernic RG556 that is less powerful than the RP4 PRO but has a nice 5.5” amoled screen that is better than the 4.7” ips screen on the RP4 Pro.
Do I recommend buying a phone to use as a dedicated handheld?
No, I don’t. While it works well we have so many good options right now that it doesn’t make sense to buy a phone just for it. In the price point between 150 and 200 USD (plus shipping) you can find the RP4, RP4 PRO and the RG556 that will run up to PS2.
If you want a bigger screen and even better performance up to Switch there is the Odin 2 with an SD 8 GEN 2 that sells for 300 USD plus shipping for the base model and even the more expensive Pro and Max models are gonna be much cheaper than a phone with similar specs and are designed for gaming, so you’re gonna have active cooling and a screen with proper ratio.
There are also a lot of good options on lower price points. For about 100 USD there is the RP2S that can emulate up to N64 and Dreamcast perfectly and some gamecube. (but is less than ideal for PSP due to the 4:3 screen).
And if you move away from android there are some excellent devices that can be found for under 50 USD like the Miyoo Mini Plus, the RG35XX (including the Plus and H versions) and the Trimui Smart Pro. In fact, this is the price point that is the most interesting to me because those devices are cheap enough that I can take them with me everywhere with no fear that something bad can happen because if it does they are cheap enough to be replaced without being a huge loss.
But if I already have a phone and want to use it for emulation?
Well, in that case why not? Install some emulators on it and see how good it is. The RP3+ has a Unisoc T618, that is not a super powerful chip. So there are good chances that you have a device that can play up to PSP and has a bigger screen than the RP3+, maybe even an amoled one.
You can even test it before getting a dedicated controller and some games,like pokémon, are enjoyable even without a controller.
And if you want to buy a controller I highly recommend the Gamesir G8 Galileo, but there are a lot of alternatives, like the Gamesir X3, that comes with a built in cooler, or cheaper ones like the gamesir X2S. And you can also buy a Bluetooth gamepad with a phone grip, a cheap option is the gamesir T4 PRO that already comes with the grip (I recommend gamesir because it is a brand that I know, tested some controllers and liked a lot the price and quality, but you can buy any one you like or use any one you already have. I also like a lot the controllers from 8bitdo, but for those you have to buy the grip separately and it’s usually a bit expensive)
And that’s it. Sorry for the long post, but I hope it helps anyone that is thinking about doing the same.

So I just had a normal and crazy idea. I'm reading some western litrpg with an Isekai backdrop. Has anyone ever thought of using their web tendencies to learn some basic Isekai survival knowledge? I'm a little into prepping and I wondered what a good crash course on the basics would be. Like some MCs know so much about how to kickstart an industrial revolution, or a culinary revolution. I wonder if there is a good resource that could teach me just enough to be dangerous. Like I want to perhaps learn some basic textiles, and how to create a generator. I have seen a bit about how you don't by using magnets and winding wires. My extent of food knowledge is developing a sourdough culture during COVID.
As an exercise, what are some fundamental topics one would need a crash course on to do well in an Isekai world. Weapons, fuel, aerodynamics, herbs and spices, etc. In this book i just thought of how i need to learn a little.more about airfoils so I could recreate airplanes. If it's a magical world I probabky know enough. In a non-magical world I might need to learn more about fuel generation. Should I try to understand black powder and the various forms of that. I've seen videos on some of the DIY precursors to gunpowder. I probably couldn't figure out the components though so maybe I need to learn some basics so incoukd find analog substances. I'm getting into the weeds now but this is partly just a fun way to learn a little about everything with the idea of surviving a zombie apocalypse or the aftermath of truck-kun.

My property is on the market. I informed the tenant on 10th Feb, and at the same time informed them I would bring the agent through on 18th Feb.
Within that week, my tenant was hospitalised. Since then, he hasn't worked, and is on medication that forbids him from driving. He has lost his independence. He also supports two of his children (aged 19 and 20) who do not drive.
Last night I called the tenant.
He spoke at length about his health, and informed me that his boss has said his wages will stop in the next fortnight. The tenant has been bouncing between home and hospital. From the information they've given me, it sounds serious, and possibly palliative. The tenant informed me that he has spoken to W+I, and he will be able to get the full pension (pension has been pro rata as he's been employed), and a few other benefits. He said he would be able to make rent, and that he would struggle with power. He's unsure what he will do about food/groceries. My tenant (a 65 year old man) cried as he spoke with me.
I had to let him know there might be some offers coming in soon, so its best he starts to plan his next steps. This is while he is really unwell, and spends a lot of his day medicated and asleep. I feel terrible putting him in this position.
I had considered lowering the rent, however I don't want to insult his mana. It would also put me out significantly more than it already is (I top up mortgage and rates fortnightly from my employment income). Airplane oxygen mask analogy, and all that.
I want to help, but I don't know how. What are some practical things I can do to help the tenant? (FWIW, I live about a three hour drive away, so its not too far for me to do a day trip, but I don't want to impose on them, either).
Help.

Bingo Card is here.
At a coffee shop hangout with a friend last weekend, we got to talking about the different places we often read books. She listens to lots of audiobooks since she does a lot of driving for work and family. It got me thinking that I primarily read books in four places: in my apartment, at coffee shops, on climbing trips, and while walking on the treadmill. Yes, read a book on a treadmill. Pump that baby up to 3.2-3.4 mph and a 5.0-8.0 grade, and after an hour I can log 500 calories and a good number of pages. No, I don't use audiobooks.
Over the summer, I took about five months off work to go on a long mountaineering trip throughout the Sierra Nevada of California (USA). I brought two shoeboxes of books with me and made it through just about all of them, mostly reading in my tent and car.
So, here's some weird shit I read in the woods (and treadmill/coffee shops). Spoilers on content warnings that would spoil notable plot points or interpretations. All scores out of 5, higher is stronger.
Other write-ups:

• Five books of nature writing with the vibe of fantasy
• Three novellas
• Five short story collections

Title with a Title: The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

• Appeal: 5
• Thinkability: 5
• Weird shit? Canonically so.
• Reading location: Treadmill
• Date published: It's complicated; written 1928-1940, published in censored version in 1967, published fully in 1973
• Page count: 384
• Tags: Russian literature, magical realism, USSR literature, allegorical, religious fiction, satire, Christianity, "where'd the funny part go", notable prose, classic, banned books
• Content warnings: Death, institutionalization, mental illness, body horror

The Master & Margarita is an absolute masterpiece of Russian/USSR fiction (and I stress the latter). I have the O'ConnoBurgin translation, which does admirably well at explaining more obscure references in footnotes without losing the plot or explaining it all.
For those unfamiliar: the Devil comes to Moscow, and boy does his retinue put on a show. Interwoven with vignettes of the stupid Moscovites who deny the Devil's existence to the Devil himself are selections from a reimagining of Jesus Christ's conviction and crucifixion under Pontius Pilate - which just so happens to be both the real story and also a story written by the titular Master. A great black cat named Behemoth drinks vodka and shoots better than a Texan in heat.
I've known people who read that book and come with vastly different opinions over its humor, with some thinking it's more horrific given the parallels to early Soviet lifestyle. Whereas I think it's an incredibly witty satire that is so strikingly heartrending in the last ten percent. Plus, the man had such a turn of words that it's no wonder some of his phrases have become idioms in Russia ("second-grade fresh").
Superheroes: The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard

• Appeal: 3.75
• Thinkability: 2
• Weird shit? No.
• Reading location: Treadmill, apartment
• Date published: 2018
• Page count: 304
• Tags: Family, USA Deep South, USA civil rights movement, old protagonist, author debut
• Content warnings: Child abuse, gun violence, stalking, addiction, racism, adult/minor relationship

I don't give a flying fuck about superheroes, but I also wanted to use the book bingo as a way to genuinely break out of my own genre conceits. The Talented Ribkins is exactly that: a lovely story of superheros, but not all superheroish about it. You follow a 72-year old man whose family has certain powers: he can draw a map of anywhere regardless of whether he's been there, his younger brother could climb anything, another relative can belch fire and smoke with a snap like a firecracker... and they're all past their prime.
The story takes place in the USA Deep South, specifically Florida. I grew up there, and Hubbard perfectly captures how Floridian families talk. I know men and women with dynamics exactly as Hubbard depicts them; I can hear their voices in my head. (It's no surprise that Hubbard cites Toni Morrison as an influence!)
Bottom of the TBR: Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges

• Appeal: 4.5
• Thinkability: 5
• Weird shit? I owe the discovery of weird shit to the conjunction of a mirror and an encyclopedia.
• Reading location: Whitney Portal, Golden Trout Wilderness
• Date published: 1962
• Page count: 256
• Tags: Magical realism, Argentine literature, metaphysical, philosophical, short stories, essays, central conceits, influential, notable prose, metafiction, classic
• Content warnings: Murder, war, death, sexual content

I don't actually keep a TBR List - but if I did, Borges would've been on it for years. One of the most influential speculative fiction authors of the 20th century, Borges is notable for expressing classical philosophical concepts through narrative. He approaches ideas not by writing about them, but by writing about people writing about that idea or coming across it through strange means. It's the progenitor of everything from the SCP Foundation to Susanna Clarke's Piranesi. What if a society idealized subjectivity to the extent of denying the reality of objects themselves? "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" considers that. What if mankind lived in an infinite library? "The Library of Babel" runs with this as far as it possibly can.
Labyrinths also contains some of his essays, and these are painful. It's amazing to read someone in the mid-1900s write about how confusing Zeno’s Paradox is as if calculus hasn’t solved it centuries ago. Just take a math class for once, philosophers; writing confusingly and acting smug isn’t actually a cogent point. (If you ignore the essays, bump the appeal rating up to 5.)
Magical Realism: Pure Colour by Sheila Heti

• Appeal: 3.25
• Thinkability: 5
• Weird shit? Pretty weird!
• Reading location: Whitney Portal
• Date published: 2022
• Page count: 214
• Tags: Magical realism, allegorical, fucking weird, sapphic, mundane lives, notable prose
• Content warnings: Sexual content, parental death, death/illness, incest

This is the first draft of the world, and the artist is about to crumble it up to start anew. A woman goes to school where she takes art appreciation/history courses, meeting a man and another woman with whom she has awkward interactions as she cares for her dying father. Will she? Won't she? Why is there eighty pages of her being turned into a leaf?
It could be the most pretentious book I've ever read, the most sardonic, or the most secretly-horrifying (next to the Gene Wolfe on this card). I'm inclined to believe the second and third; there's some serious excoriation of the manic dream girl ideal and propensity of people to believe their life problems are solved one idea after another. The tone and word choice are absolutely bizarre; there's a part where Heti describes a spirit being "ejaculated" into someone not once but three times... and that's before the whole leaf thing.
... and then it hit me. This book is about the mind-destroying trauma of parental incest. It's all there. The word choice, the concept about how "some people are bears who focus on the love of others", the point in the beginning about how there's a man who's too much of a bear. What. Even if I didn't outright enjoy it, I kept thinking about it, and the frustratingly mundane novel ended up dripping in the horrodisgust continuum.
Young Adult: Mordew by Alex Pheby

• Appeal: 2.25
• Thinkability: 2
• Weird shit? Literally.
• Reading location: Michigan
• Date published: 2020
• Page count: 604
• Tags: Dark fantasy, metafictional, young protagonists,
• Content warnings: Body horror, sexism, animal death, misogyny, sexual content, child abuse, child death

God is dead, and his corpse rots below the city of Mordew. It's the first line on the back of the book - and by the way, it's supposed to be a huge twist. Oh well. This is the first book in the Cities of the Weft series, which follows various cities ruled over by godlike men with extraordinary powers. Mordew is infested by the Living Mud, which pushes out body parts used for textiles and... other things. You follow a young boy who also has powers growing, and he is sent to help out the Master of the city of Mordew before joining a ragtag group of kid thieves.
Cool premise, but unfortunately one that's utterly buried in Pheby's attempt to write four different stories at once that becomes progressively scrambled. Is this coming-of-age? Is this an action movie? Why is my boy a tyke bomb? Now we're escaping the castle with a princess? The initial intrigue is fascinating, but it felt like Pheby didn't really know what he wanted to write, and an otherwise amazing idea with tons of metafiction in the way the glossary of the book is a spoiler is weighed down by bombast and "big magic" scenes.
Mundane Jobs: Severance by Ling Ma

• Appeal: 4.25
• Thinkability: 3
• Weird shit? Kinda.
• Reading location: Lake Tahoe
• Date published: 2018
• Page count: 291
• Tags: Post-apocalyptic, zombies, "family", memoria, psychological horror, funny like an aneurysm, author debut
• Content warnings: Death, pandemic/epidemic, suicide, sexual content, confinement, pregnancy

Don’t believe the blurb on the back - this is NOT a The Office-like parody of work culture. This is a frequently sad, often tense, and occasionally whimsical view into the millennial struggle of never being at home. Severance takes on many meanings here, and all of them hit hard.
You follow a woman who works at a publishing firm that prints cheap knock-off versions of Bibles; think of those cloying "Bible for Young Women" productions. A fungal pandemic hits (this was pre-COVID!) that causes people to endlessly loops actions when they've experienced strong bouts of nostalgia. The woman continues working her job and monitoring systems with the expectations of a huge severance pay once her contract ends as the pandemic rages.
Published in the 2000s: The Adventurists by Richard Butner

• Appeal: 4
• Thinkability: 2
• Weird shit? Not really, but it'll hook ya.
• Reading location: Emigrant Wilderness, Yosemite National Park
• Date published: Variously throughout the 2000s, collected in 2022
• Page count: 320
• Tags: Mundane horror, magical realism, science fiction, poignant, short stories, the human condition, ghosts... maybe?
• Content warnings: Death, chronic illness

I used to hate short stories. Why read them when you can just read, I dunno, actual books? Well what can I say, I was a fucking poser. Short stories are amazing, and masters of the form are true masters. Borges, Butner, Shirley Jackson, and more work phenomenally well at unfolding central conceits.
Butner's stories remind me a lot of Jackson in the slow dawning horror of it all. But where Jackson examined small town life and a woman’s place, Butner examines the traps of nostalgia and thinking life was better when. It's like science fiction meets magical realism; a true "speculative fiction" collection where you finish a story and stare at your tent's walls for a bit before drifting off into unsettled dreams.
Angels/Demons: Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny

• Appeal: 2.5
• Thinkability: 3
• Weird shit? Absolutely.
• Reading location: Treadmill, stairmaster
• Date published: 1969
• Page count: 175
• Tags: Experimental fiction, writing prompt, novella, Egyptian mythology
• Content warnings: Sexual content, misogyny, death, institutionalization

This was originally a writing exercise that Zelazny's friend Samuel R. Delaney convinced him to publish - and it shows. It's very clear that narrative and characterization weren't a focus, and that it's more about giving off the vibe of "sufficiently advanced technology" taken to an extreme of literal gods as opposed to a normative narrative. I think it was worth reading for that reason alone - I love experimental prose, especially where I can kind of be informed of the many ways to write a story that isn't a straightforward "he said, they did".
That being said, it's clear where Zelazny started becoming plot-focused, and that's where it gets weak. There are mini-characters and mini-stories that flit in and out of existence, and characterization changes as time goes on where the story doesn't really have the space for, nor does it prioritize that kind of engagement. It's best when it's weird and unknowable - as one would expect gods to be, especially transhuman ones.
Short Stories: The Philip K. Dick Reader by (checks notes) Philip K. Dick

• Appeal: 4
• Thinkability: 3
• Weird shit? Unsettling shit, sure.
• Reading location: Maryland, Colorado, Truckee (California)
• Date published: Variously throughout the 1950s-1970s, collected in 1997
• Page count: 422
• Tags: Short stories, science fiction, influential, classic, adaptations
• Content warnings: Sexism, gun violence, war

I love Dick, but his ideas were always better than his prose. I actually think he was better as he got weirder with time; A Scanner Darkly and the "VALIS" trilogy are probably my favorite works by him. That being said, he was far stronger as a short story author. He gets those hooks into ya; you feel his paranoia and drug-induced psychosis through amphetamine-fueled writing excursions.
Where does one begin with this 400+ page collection? Well, it's got all the goodies here: from "Minority Report" to "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale". And I repeat that the ideas are better than the prose, though "Second Variety" was legitimately scary. Shame we got a shit-ass movie out of that one rather than another Blade Runner. If you're not familiar with PKD, then I cannot recommend this to you more. At the very least, his influence is enormous, wide-ranging, and incredibly important for science fiction and psychological horror. Just be prepared for some very 1960s-white-man views on women.
Horror: The Great God Pan & Other Horror Stories by Arthur Machen

• Appeal: 2.5
• Thinkability: 2
• Weird shit? The OG weird shit.
• Reading location: Talkeetna (Alaska)
• Date published: Various, but the main one was published in 1894
• Page count: 448
• Tags: Short stories, cosmic horror, fae, pre-Lovecraft, influential, paganism vs. Christianity
• Content warnings: Sexism, kidnapping, body horror, suicide, forced pregnancy

All of your favorite horror authors have been influenced by Machen. He's like the Black Sabbath of contemporary horror; Lovecraftian cosmic horror before Lovecraft.
This compiles his most notable short stories, most of them written in his 20s/early 30s before 1900. These stories are extremely important for the development of anglophone horror as we know it today, but perhaps their influence is better than their content. A few of the main stories are great gothic horror, though anyone familiar with Lovecraft et al. might find them quaint. The unfortunately named "The White People" is a prototypical example of the capricious fae; even more unfortunately, it's interminably boring.
Still, it's cool to see where began cosmic horror in Western literature. Though I wouldn't recommend reading these unless you're interested in the history part; it's like listening to your favorite death metal band's cassette-recorded demos.
Self-Published/Indie Publisher: Three Messages & a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic (anthology)

• Appeal: 3
• Thinkability: 2
• Weird shit? Not really.
• Reading location: Mount Abbot/Bear Creek Spire, Mosquito Flat trailhead
• Date published: 2011
• Page count: 300
• Tags: Short stories, science fiction, magical realism, Mexican literature, vampires
• Content warnings: WaGenocide, sexual violence

There is a disturbing amount of places in the Sierra Nevada with the eponym "mosquito". Thankfully, I did not have much of a problem at Mosquito Flat. To help break-up climbing days a little better, I started getting in the habit of reading for an hour or so in the morning while I warmed up before climbs. The first casualty was this short story collection of contemporary Mexican magical realism, almost all of which were published independently before collection by indie Small Beer Press.
Most stories lead on the "fantastic" side more so than straight-up fantasy; it's better to describe it as short-story magical realism (which is actually kinda rare). As one might expect, there is a lot of social and political commentary here alongside genuinely engaging narratives. My favorite was the vampires waiting for nuclear winter so they could hunt during the day.
Middle East: Dune by Frank Herbert

• Appeal: 3.5
• Thinkability: 3
• Weird shit? The sandworms do indeed.
• Reading location: Apartment, Los Angeles, airports/airplanes
• Date published: 1965
• Page count: 658
• Tags: Science fiction, classic, interplanetary, political, subversions, re-read
• Content warnings: Slavery, pedophilia, child death, war, parental death, rape

I read Dune over 12 years ago in 2011. I strongly enjoyed it; and, this revisit has changed some of my perspective. Herbert doesn't know when to trust you to get things; so much of the subtlety of the book is undercut by the characters giving you one- or two-line summaries about whatever's going on. No! Stop that! The best part of this series is figuring out the intrigue yourself! Herbert feels terrified that a reader might be slightly confused about the macro-plot, which is ironic given the obfuscation around the Bene Gesserit and Missionaria Protectiva.
I also found that the book does a lot of telling rather than showing. We're told Paul is special and precocious from the start, but he just asks normal questions. We're told the Suk School has unbreakable conditioning, but the only example we have is someone who's broken. We're told that Thufir Hawat is a dangerous mentat, but he really screws up everything but one (Feyd-Rautha's gladiator battle). I almost feel like this is one of the few long books that could have been longer; we're given so much from the very beginning that feels subverted without establishment.
I still enjoyed this reread, but more for the ideas than Herbert's prose.
Published in 2023: In Ascension by Martin Macinnes

• Appeal: 3
• Thinkability: 3
• Weird shit? Overwhelmingly.
• Reading location: Treadmill, apartment
• Date published: 2023
• Page count: 496
• Tags: Science fiction, climate fiction, Netherlands, Scottish literature, space travel, marine biology, expository fiction, sapphic
• Content warnings: Child abuse, confinement, dementia, descriptions of blood, domestic abuse, terminal illness, parental death, mental illness

In another bingo I'm doing with friends, we have a square for Booker Prize 2023. For those unfamiliar, the Booker Prize is for works published in the UK or Ireland. Originally, they just awarded for stuff published in the Commonwealth/Ireland/South Africa/Zimbabwe spheres, but in 2014 it was opened to any English-language novel. Regardless, I have never been disappointed by a Booker Prize novel. Even books I dislike, I still gain something from, and that's where In Ascension falls.
As a kid, I loved Michael Crichton books for the exposition dumps, and they likely influenced my decision to professionally pursue science/maths. Yes, Crichton has tons of problems, but as a 12 year old I loved hearing the bullshit on chaos theory in Jurassic Park (if you think it's a big deal in the movie, just wait...).
In Ascension kinda gets me in that same bind; the main character is a marine biologist-turned-microbiologist from the Netherlands who is wrapped up in inexplicable terrestrial and extraterrestrial occurrences. The first section follows her on a boat that goes to a previously-undiscovered deep sea vent that's at least three times as deep as the Mariana Trench. Weird shit happens.
Multiverse: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

• Appeal: 4.5
• Thinkability: 4
• Weird shit? The Statue of Weird Shit sits in the 15th Southeastern Hall.
• Reading location: Apartment with coffee
• Date published: 2020
• Page count: 245
• Tags: Magical realism, epistolary fiction, UK fiction, surreal, Borgesian, Zillow, notable prose
• Content warnings: All CWs are spoilers. Kidnapping, gaslighting, forced confinement, mental illness, gun violence

In a word, I loved Piranesi. Boy did I have fun imagining the various ways the House could be presented; I initially imagined vaporwave. It’s a good problem to have when my biggest criticism is "I wish it were longer". And I deeply, deeply do - not only to explore the House (that is God?), but to simply have more time with Piranesi before the plot hits hard, the resolution of which never truly lived up to the conceit. I wanted to learn more about the Drowned Halls or go on another mini-adventure like when Piranesi conducts astralgazing in the dark, windowless hall. I don't need hundrds more pages, but maybe a couple more snacks for daddy.
Borgesian is an easy analogy; I found Piranesi more abjectly beautiful and celebratory in capital-m Mystery, with the caveat that the epistolary format breaks down when the action and dialogue pick up in the second half. Sad, contemplative, yet affirming. The last sentence is a gutpunch.
POC Author: Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

• Appeal: 1.5
• Thinkability: 2
• Weird shit? Nobody in this society would have enough fiber.
• Reading location: Looney Bean coffee shop/cafe in Bishop (California)
• Date published: 2017
• Page count: 211
• Tags: HorroDisgust continuum, cannibalism, science fiction, statement piece
• Content warnings: Cannibalism, gore, animal cruelty, child death, sexual abuse

How far can a statement piece go? I hit the "I get it" button about 70 pages in. Tender Is the Flesh got a ton of attention last year on BookTok through its gory, disgusting exploration of a near-future world where humans can no longer eat meat from other animals due to a virus, so now they eat "special meat" - a.k.a. humans specifically raised and slaughtered.
It's clear what Bazterrica wants you to understand: this is happening right now in factory farms all over the world. You're only grossed-out here because it's humans. Yet this makes Tender Is the Flesh read less like a book than a rant. It's an allegory for killing animals that I signed up for but also got pretty quickly.
The two points I realized that this book was kind of dumb were when a set of characters unironically said “humans are the real virus!” and when a character who owns a human hunting preserve was explicitly said to own the Necronomicon. Can you be any more on the nose?
Book Club (or Family Matters): Peace by Gene Wolfe

• Appeal: 4.75
• Thinkability: 5
• Weird shit? The knife isn't the point.
• Reading location: Maryland, Airports/Airplane
• Date published: 1975
• Page count: 272
• Tags: Unreliable narrator, magical realism, ghosts, murder, "memoir", notable prose, USA Midwest, classic, author debut
• Content warnings: All CWs are spoilers. Child death, sexual content, adult/minor relationship, psychosis, murder

Gene Wolfe is the mater at telling stories in the background. BOTNS might be the quintessential unreliable narrator, in which you must pay attention to omissions and lies to really get what's going on. His debut novel Peace is even more obfuscating. Lesser authors would handwave their characters' actions with "of course he's telling the story, so there will be embellishments" (i.e. Rothfuss). Wolfe prefers to have his characters tell the truth, just with the occasional change.
That's what makes this book so fascinating. It opens as a sleepy Midwest USA memoir, but as I got further I realized it's one of the secretly scariest pieces of media I've ever experienced. It's subtle about it: I have to actively engage with the events for the horror to dawn. As Neil Gaiman says in the foreword, you trust the author... but you also do NOT trust the author. How many murders can you count? What's actually going on with the adolescent he sleeps with who's totally really into him? What exactly went down in the family's barn?
I read this as a part of a real-life book club with friends. If that's not in the spirit for the bingo, then I'm subbing it for 2023's "Family Matters".
Novella: Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter

• Appeal: 4.25
• Thinkability: 4
• Weird shit? Shit, bit, writ. Mittens on their hands so they don't get cold!
• Reading location: Apartment, Queen City Coffee Collective in Lakewood (Colorado)
• Date published: 2015
• Page count: 114
• Tags: Experimental fiction, novella, magical realism, UK literature, author debut, grief/loss
• Content warnings: Parental death, sexual content

Porter's debut novel(la) follows a man and his two young boys after the immediate, sudden death of their mother. A gigantic crow comes in to help them manage their grief through its singsong voice. Is it mocking them? Is it their friend? There are no names, it's just Father, The Boys, and Crow. (All is Crow.)
My favorite thing about this book is it shows how messy grief is. Grief is not a neat package of sadness -> anger -> acceptance, or however many stages there might be. Grief is disgusting, indulgent, and (occasionally) violent. This book shows that - from the cursing to the despondency to the piss and shit. And it's interwoven with absolutely heartrending statements on what it is to lose someone and the mess they leave behind. As stated early on in the book, it's an apartment of "no-longer hers", and it doesn't have the care that comes with slow illness.
Now what? I'm just supposed to go on with my day? Crow would laugh at that but also agree - both in literal and in intent.
Mythical Beasts: The Devourers by Indra Das

• Appeal: 1.75
• Thinkability: 2
• Weird shit? Really wants you to think so.
• Reading location: Treadmill, apartment
• Date published: 2015
• Page count: 306
• Tags: Epistolary format, metafiction, werewolves, India literature, multiple perspectives, achillean, cannibalism, author debut
• Content warnings: Body horror, cannibalism, war, gore, rape/sexual assault, parental death

The Devourers opens with an Indian man (the country, not Native American) meeting an attractive stranger at a party who tells him he's half-werewolf. After a skeptical and story-filled couple of meetings, the half-werewolf gives the man a series of scrolls and human skin, asking him to transcribe the story. The story-in-the-story reveals the half-werewolf's parents meeting, in which a tribe of skin-changers who eat humans and their souls come to India, and one rapes a woman to feel what it's like to have a child.
There's a point in the story where you read about the werewolf father's sexual assault. It's disturbingly, horrifically written, and I hated the character. His section then ends, you go back to present times, and the Indian man speaks with the half-werewolf and asks why he was given this to transcribe. I'm going to paraphrase what our main character said: "Am I supposed to feel pity for such a horrible creature? He's obviously trying to justify himself!" To say my eyes rolled out the back of my head would be putting it mildly. Commentary on the process of writing is great; when it's that heavy-handed, it's presumptuous, especially when you use rape as a plot device. It's one of the few times a book has made me angry because I felt like the author was trying to be Very Clever when in reality it felt insulting.
Elemental Magic: Fain the Sorcerer by Steve Aylett

• Appeal: 1.25
• Thinkability: 1
• Weird shit? Not for me.
• Reading location: Stairmaster
• Date published: 2005
• Page count: 96
• Tags: Novella, swords & sorcery, "funny"
• Content warnings: Body horror

I don't care about elemental magic; the very concept makes me think of video games and banal fantasy. Actually, I'll restate that: I love it in Dark Souls and Diablo clones, I don't care about it in books. But like the Superheroes square, I wanted to make a good faith effort to step outside my circumspection.
Well, there's a nugget of a good idea here - a humble gardener finding his way around the "no wishing for more wishes" rule and all the time-travel hijinx that could come with that. It's not a wacky, idea-filled romp as much as it is the kind of humor I'd write in middle school when I thought my idea of a semi-transparent purple dragon hogging the road was the funniest thing ever (nobody laughed when I read it aloud). Plenty of "lolrandom xD", little substance. It reads like it was written in an afternoon and then sent to print.
... and I feel bad saying that because writing is fucking hard, but I also try to embrace the feelings I have in books and assess why I didn't like something, acknowledging that evoking emotion is itself a goal of art. The book falls here too though; it's the lowest "thinkability" I have here because it just wasn't funny (not because I read it on the stairmaster).
Myths/Retellings: Not So Stories (anthology)

• Appeal: 3
• Thinkability: 2
• Weird shit? Kinda.
• Reading location: Apartment
• Date published: 2018
• Page count: 352
• Tags: Retellings, Rudyard Kipling, short stories, reclamation, anti-colonalist literature
• Content warnings: Colonialism, death, wagenocide, sexual abuse, terminal illness, body horror

Youth of an age and time might be familiar with Just So Stories - a collection of fables written by Rudyard Kipling to his daughter (referred to as Best Beloved). "How the Tiger Got Its Stripes" and all that. Well, have you read that shit recently? It's terrible. Kipling is like the poster child for the disaffected British colonialist who's convinced himself that Britain is doing good for its charges by bringing them honest civilization. Except, y'know, all the other stuff.
Not So Stories is an attempt to reclaim Kipling's legacy. It is an anthology of many authors who write their own takes on the content of Just So Stories. Overall, it's a solid selection that reflect on Kipling and colonialism's legacy. Topics include a camel getting her paid-time off at a corporate job, a Southeast Asian woman being told Just So Stories by a British man (meta! terrifying!), and spiders getting their silk. The best take Kipling's format and run with it; the worst are either cliché or feel like they were written for a different prompt. “Samsara” is unbearably cloying (what Gen Zer doesn’t know Freddie Mercury? did the author ever speak to a teenager?) and also not related to the topic.
Queernorm: Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delaney

• Appeal: 3.5
• Thinkability: 5
• Weird shit? That's, like, the whole purpose.
• Reading location: Apartment, treadmill
• Date published: 1975
• Page count: 816
• Tags: The "speculative" part of "speculative fiction", sexual/smut/erotica, achillean, experimental fiction, post-apocalyptic, notable prose
• Content warnings: Strong sexual content, slurs, adult/minor relationship, sexual assault, psychosis, child death

There's a lot to unpack with Dhalgren. What even is this book? Nominally, it follows an unnamed Kid who travels to Bellona, a fictional city in the exact center of the USA cut-off by an unending, undefined catstrophe. Radio, TV, and telephone signals don't reach it. Some people still live there, others arrive. The kid experiences the various social goings-on and roaring cataclysms that constantly choke the sky with smoke.
Dhalgren is a fascinating, strange rumination on being a character in a book. The last chapter more or less redeems the fourth and fifth chapters, which feel like three hundred pages of “yeah?” “Umm.” and “Well…” plus copious amounts of sex and slurs that I haven’t begun to figure out (including adult/minor sex). One character provides a mind screwdriver, but is it enough? Is it aware of being unjustifiable? Is that an excuse to write dreg?
I prefer to view Dhalgren as an unfinished novel. Not in the sense of the writing not being done, but as in everything is not fully formed. What happens when your ideas aren't done developing? What if you plop in a character (Kidd) who doesn't have fleshed-out conceptions, histories, or personalities into a setting that isn't finished being developed? Dhalgren has a threadbare plot because the plot isn't written yet. People do things and wonder why they're doing them. Time skips happen because the characters aren't on the pages.
Dhalgren is one of those Great Books About Writing. Perhaps I didn’t topically quite enjoy it, but I’ve sure thought about it a lot.
Coastal/Island: Cyberpunk: Malaysia (anthology)

• Appeal: 3.75
• Thinkability: 2
• Weird shit? Not really.
• Reading location: Apartment, treadmill
• Date published: 2015
• Page count: 330
• Tags: Malaysian literature, science fiction, short stories, cyberpunk, anti-colonialist literature
• Content warnings: Racism, slurs, sexism, sexual assault

A great compilation of cyberpunk with twists often based in religion and Malaysia’s cultural and ethnic struggles. Some of these are downright funny; shout-out to DMZINE and Attack of the Spambots. Only a couple stinkers in an otherwise awesome selection; I should read more books where the foreword is a manifesto.
Zen Cho was the editor here, and if that name excites you... it should! I respect that the book states from the start that it will make no apologies for cultural idiosyncrasies not being described for anglophones, such as not italicizing non-English words.
Druids: The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth

• Appeal: 4
• Thinkability: 4
• Wyrd chit? Yea.
• Reading location: Apartment, treadmill
• Date published: 2014
• Page count: 330
• Tags: Conlang, notable prose, post-apocalyptic, UK literature, historical fiction, unreliable narrator, author debut
• Content warnings: Xenophobia, misogyny, domestic abuse, war, animal death, kidnapping, psychosis, sexual assault/rape, murder

Described as a "post-apocalypse 1000 years ago", The Wake follows Buccmaster of Holland, a landowner in Angland at the dawn of William the Conqueror's arrival. It's completely written in a "shadow tongue" developed by Kingsnorth, where Old English spelling and grammar is (mostly) used while eliminating Latin-derived words. Buccmaster's home is destroyed, and he seeks revenge by forming his own troop of Green Men who will strike back at the "frenc" occupiers. Throughout the book, he communes with Old Gods ("eald gods") that include the spirit of a legendary blacksmith.
This is a fascinating book that's a whole lot deeper than either the initial or secondary conceit. The Wake is one of those books with a high Thinkability Index; regardless of whether or not I enjoyed it, I keep thinking about it. By Kingsnorth's own words in foreword and afterword, it's tempting to think you're supposed to consider Buccmaster a hero of the story. It's not a spoiler to say that's... not the truth - but the sheer destruction and horror of William the Conqueror's arrival is nonetheless demonstrated everywhere in this novel. A fascinating psychological profile that emphasizes the "history" part of the "historical novel".
Robots: Exhalation by Ted Chiang

• Appeal: 4.25
• Thinkability: 3
• Weird shit? Borgesian shit, even.
• Reading location: Hotel, Clear Creek Canyon
• Date published: Variously from the 2000s through 2010s, collected 2019
• Page count: 350
• Tags: Science fiction, short stories, Borgesian, cyberpunk(-ish), metafictional, philosophical, cyberspace
• Content warnings: Addiction, spousal death, drug abuse, prostitution, gun violence, domestic abuse

It’s hard to write speculative fiction with a social issues bent in the 2010s and beyond without accusation of Black Mirror-lite. So, perhaps readers might be interested to hear some of the nine stories in Exhalation predate the show, and that they have more in common with the tradition of Borges and Argentinian/Chilean magical realism in addition to the contemporary issues of today (and yesterday, and tomorrow).
This was my first Chiang collection, and I loved just about all of it. I've written about "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" in one of the posts linked above. To recap: I respected how it follows the concept of digital creatures to its extreme end - what happens when software becomes obsolescent? When servers die? When people get horny for digital pets? I also found the title story masterful as a response to Kierkegaard’s "leap of faith". The only one I thought a little trite was “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”, which kinda failed on the dual-story part with the African analog seeming cliché. But it’s a small price to pay for the overall collection.
Sequel: Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer

• Appeal: 4
• Thinkability: 3
• Weird shit? The blue fox ponders this question.
• Reading location: Apartment, treadmill
• Date published: 2019
• Page count: 323
• Tags: Science fiction, surreal, sapphic, notable prose, experimetal, biopunk, climate fiction, multiple perspectives
• Content warnings: Body horror, gore, animal cruelty, medical experimentation, child abuse, gun violence, homelessness

I didn't like Annihilation all that much (movie was cool), so I was prepared to just think VanderMeer wasn't for me. Well, the neon-technicolor artwork to Dead Astronauts called out to me at the local bookshop like LSD on a Tuesday. Only later did I realize that this is actually a sequel; it shares the setting and conceit of Bourne, though with different characters.
This is a hugely acerbic, mobius strip-esque novel that weaves in parallel realities and explores the concept of archetypes in a post-apocalyptic wasteland following an ecological disaster. Saying that means nothing; Dead Astronauts is, like so much of VanderMeer's work, a book where the prose and format are immensely important to imparting the surreality of death and destruction. In this sense, it's like ecological ergodic literature - you travel throughout different perspectives of machines, mutants, creatures, and survivalists in which the organization of words on-page tells you more about their lens and experiences than the actual words on-page.

I know this question gets asked every few months and I’ve read a bunch of past posts, but want to get a discussion for a specific use case that doesn’t get mentioned as much: secondary machine.
I have a desktop PC I’ve been using for music for a few years and it is pretty overspecced for my use, 32 GB ram and a ryzen 7 5800X 8-core.
I want a laptop that will allow me to work on projects while I’m traveling, like on an airplane or in a hotel room. I just need it to be able to run Ableton live and never give me issues with heating or slowdowns, and have great battery life. My projects are medium-heavy, typically I use 10-15 tracks with VSTs like serum, vital, kontakt, analog labs, granulator, or Ableton stock instruments. Plus 10-20 audio tracks with processing for a total of ~35 tracks. I don’t want to need to freeze my tracks to have it playback smoothly.
Overall this doesn’t seem like a super intensive demand, so I started looking at m2 and m3 MacBook airs for their portability and battery life. I don’t need a ton of ports since this will just be for throwing in AirPods and starting projects that will eventually be transferred to my PC.
The only thing with the air is they come with 8GB ram which just seems wrong. Upgrading to 16GB gets me into MBP price territory, at which point I started looking at refurbished M2 Pro chip machines which have a far superior CPU. I just wonder if that $1600 range is really worth it for my light duty use case or if the air is a safe bet. I’m just worried it will be obsolete sooner due to the low RAM size, and if I’ll be happier with the upgraded chip so I can push its duty in the future (should I want to move to MacBook only).

I've been a long time Nikon user coming from the analog ages then through into DSLR and the last camera I've bought is a D7200. I own a range of Nikon prime and zoom lenses (8 so far) but they're relatively old D-series type. These lenses only work with say a D850 or else no autofocus on the newer Z-mount type lacking a focus motor drive.
I'm in the delema of whether to cut loose with Nikon and go with the the likes of Sony or continue down with Nikon Z. Or don't consider this at all and go with the D850 and keep all the lenses I own so far.
I mostly shoot travel, family studio portrait and the occassional airplane spotting.
I do love the new Z8 but not sure if it is a good choice selling everything I got to go with a Z8 and two lenses? I think that's the budget I'll have. I find the ability to focus sharply and quickly on the new mirrorless and in-body stabilisation is a great feature I'd love. Lenses I have are great but they're definitely showing its age. Not that I'm not good at using them, just the itch of wanting to try something new.
Do you think it will be worth for me to jump over to the mirrorless world or stay with the aging DSLR fleet?

A user posts a picture of a man wearing a swastika patch boarding their flight to /Delta. (Edit: The photo has been deleted, but the drama remains.) (Edit 2: Thanks to tresser for the archive link.)
The discussion quickly escalates into a debate over the limits of the First Amendment with many, many very long slapfights. The service of truckers, the spirit of Hawaii, and fedoras are all invoked.

The Drama:

One Redditor has a story to tell:

Went on a flight to my daughter's wedding into Seattle. On the flight out and yes this was Daring the riots. The guy sitting next to me a young black man had a shirt on "death to white people"... My only response to the young man was asking him if he wanted to give his shirt a try..... If you were that offended why were you leaving it up to someone else to handle business why didn't you make the comment especially as a jew. That's my point about being soft we rely today way too much on others. Does he have the right to wear that without a doubt. Is a total fucking douchebag for wearing it without a doubt. And according to my wife it's my biggest problem not keeping my opinions to myself. But I'm also one that if I see an injustice I'm going to speak out about it. Not rely on someone else.

People like you with that thought process is why people wear shirts like that. "TrY tHaT iN a SmAlL tOwN". Oh fuck off.
You have no idea how periods work

Actually using talk to text and it absolutely sucks because I'm trying to multi-task and work.

[…]

No I've definitely had my ass handed to me quite a few times in my life. Still hasn't changed my position not 1 bit. I'm not saying you had to go up and physically assault him. I would have definitely asked him about it so are you a nazi or just a white supremist or a total fucktard? I do love to ask y people think the way they do. I guess that comes from being a history major.

i’m 5’2 and tiny. i don’t have the privilege of safely confronting or differentiating between nazis and white supremacists. they’re all the same to me. but more power to you, i guess.

Let me ask you a question you've never been in a situation where you knew you're gonna come out of the losing end of but you had to make the point. Once again I have definitely stepped into situations and I'm talking about life-and-death wearing a badge or my Marine Corps uniform knowing I was gonna come out worse for it. It's not about the size it's about how much heart. And what I'm saying is if it offended you that badly that you had to post it on social media then you should have spoke your mind. Or at least asked about it. From looking at the photos I'm quite sure people would have had your back. I know if I was on that flight I'd have your back. But as you go through your day today please know that I hope its blessed. And you have photographic proof That you are superior than some of the mouth breathers that walk the same planet that you do.

A slapfight ensues:

This is a dude on a plane with a jacket. Your overheated comparison is ridiculous. And if you follow him off the plane and assault him, that makes you even more worse than he is at this point. That makes you a criminal while he remains just a jerk. I would love to be on your jury.

You'd love to support a nazi? Weird flex bro.

If that’s the power of your logic, I don’t see the point in replying further. You need to work on your reading comprehension. Or more accurately you need to stop projecting your biases and your political agenda on others who didn’t say what you want to imply they said. Unlike you apparently, I believe in the law and the constitution and rights of everyone. I even include you in that and your right to say ridiculous things on Reddit.

You're very brave standing up for nazi boy.

You’re the one acting like a Nazi here

[…]

Nope, I just don't tolerate intolerance.

[…]

Well, I tried to reason with you and it didn’t work so you tell me. However, so that I don’t come across as simplistic in my statements as you, I don’t think you’re a bone fide Nazi, I think you’re an authoritarian. Means you use their tactics, but I do suspect your ideology is diametrically opposed to theirs, but similarly unreasonable. Go away.

So it's authoritarian to not want Nazis to feel safe? You think it's reasonable to let Nazis roam unchecked? Very logical Mr. Spock.

I guess the next step is to block your authoritarian self. No more than I want to talk to a bona fide Nazi, do I want to talk to you.

So there are limits to you listening to speech you disagree with? What a shock.

I’m beginning to understand why you oppose free expression because when you open your mouth the things that come out, should embarrass you. Think about the logic of what you just said.

And continues…

The people on this sub are doing far more to destroy the concept of freedom expression than a guy walking down the aisle of an airplane.

Lol no they aren't. I'm sorry that you feel like tolerating the intolerant is a good thing, but some people understand that it only leads to destruction of the tolerant.

And I’m sorry you think that you actually are making a valid point by projecting your lies on others. Right now you are more of a problem than a guy wearing an offensive logo. You are attacking fundamental truth. Are you blind to that or do you just not care? If it’s the latter, it makes you kind of like the purported philosophy of the guy walking down the aisle. As usual, those of you who scream the loudest are often the fascist that you warn us about. You should be glad I tolerate and respect the rights of the intolerant. Otherwise I’d be calling for you to be silenced.

Lol "people against nazis are the real nazis" is a major dipshit take. How many fedoras do you own bud?

And continues…

I swear, I think all you radicals must think with the same hive mind devoid of any logic, historical understanding, reason, or basic knowledge. The same ridiculous empty comment over and over and over from you guys.

I say that Nazis shouldn’t feel comfortable and I’m the radical. The mOdErAtE says I would fit in with Nazis because I don’t like Nazis. The smugness is coming out of your ears. Insufferable.

You said enough to know that I really don’t care what you have to say. Authoritarian and Nazis are equally detestable to me. Go join your brethren. You can disagree on ideology but compare notes on tactics. Just like the communist and Nazis of the mid 20th century you modern radicals are kissing cousins of those that you protest so loudly about…but as they say Thou doth protest too much.

You’re seriously a living meme.

I’m shocked that you think memes matter.

A user suggests that the flight crew has wide discretion in this situation. Another disagrees:

Let’s assume that’s all true, would you also be ok with someone wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt being kicked off the flight or made to cover the shirt? What is or is not offensive is highly subjective in many cases. Someone has to determine what is and is not allowed and it can’t be based on personal bias.

Wow you just compared BLM against a group who wants to commit genocide. You should get some help dude.

Why, they both suck and neither should exist. Just because one has done more damage than the other doesn’t make the other more ok.

Fuck you and fuck this thinly-veiled whataboutism. There is a MASSIVE difference between Black Lives Matter, which only mouth-breathing bigot degenerates find offensive, and the symbol of a government which literally committed genocide and unspeakable war crimes, and the fact that you'd even compare the two in your shitty analogy tells me you are a piece of shit bigot.

Ad hominem is the first sign that you can’t refute what I’ve said. Black Lives Matter was responsible for rioting, looting, and deceiving millions of people for personal gain. Is that the same as attempting to commit genocide? No. Is it something that many would find offensive? Yes. That’s the point. Remember, Black Lives never mattered to Black Lives Matter. You may not find them offensive but someone else might, so if we are banning things that are offensive it’s all or nothing. Acknowledging that is not bigoted, it’s logical. As far as I’m concerned they both fucking suck. But hey, if recognizing that they both suck generates a response like your previous one, then you’ve told me everything I need to know about you.
Sometimes ad hominem is deserved, along with the rational points. Nazis. World War II. The scope of your comparison is stretched beyond imagination.
Nah, he's right about you and how to handle you. Fuck you and fuck your awful attempts to cover for the Nazi in this post
You’re equating being slightly offended with… genocide. This is not a normal equivalency. You have weird programmed biases that need to be dealt with

[…]

I agree with all that. My point is that it’s not in their best interest to deny anyone, because if they deny him for having a swastika patch then next thing you know the nazis are gonna be raising hell about some other group group being allowed when they aren’t. Before you know it everybody is suing delta and that’s not good for business. Typically they are going to want everybody to just sit down, shut up, and eat their complimentary peanuts.

So then the nazis boycott delta? Sounds like a win to me.

Agreed. Doesn’t change that delta wouldn’t want that publicity.

I could easily see that spun in a positive light. “Come fly Delta! The Nazis are boycotting us, so they won't even try to sneak on. We can guarantee you a Nazi-free flight!"

Forgive me if I missed something - I was out with a cold last week - but I don’t recall BLM murdering six million Jews.

Yeah? I’m betting the guy on that flight didn’t either.

Islamic extremism is examined:

That’s crazy. And Muslims make up like 1% of the American population and still kill almost half the number of people?! They actually kill way more if you don’t arbitrarily remove certain attacks like 9/11? Holy crap they’re more violent than I thought. Creepy

I’m talking Islamic terrorists vs. non-Islamic terrorists. Not Muslims vs. non-Muslims. You just told on yourself by making it about Muslims as a whole. Also, the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis in the country on student visas. ObL was Saudi. If we want to give Saudi’s applying for student visas extra scrutiny when it comes to screening for terrorism I’m all for it.

Generally Muslims are the one committing Islamic terrorism 😂 Don’t be xenophobic against Saudis just because ObL was a terrorist, that’s messed up

Men commit substantially all mass shootings, other forms of violent crime, and crime in general. Does that mean we should restrict the freedoms of all men in the interest of national security? And xenophobia by definition is only applicable if the behavior is applied to people from multiple countries. If it is limited to a single country it’s not xenophobia.

Cool, so it’s not xenophobic if you only hate people from a certain country. If you hate people from two different countries on the other hand…. Then you’re in trouble! We’re clearly dealing with a genius over here haha

What about pride flags?

This is America, kids. Get offended all you want but he has the right to express just as much as a Black Lives Matter activist, Muslim, displaying a Jewish star, ect. If you don’t get that then you are part of the problem and should take your offended feelings to another country. You don’t have to like it but this is what freedom looks like, no matter how unfortunate it is. Now all you keyboard warriors can begin insulting me, it’s your right 😂

I don’t care about keyboard wars, but the law says this guy’s freedom doesn’t extend to a privately-owned airplane.

It’s no different than a pride flag posted in a shirt. It could offend someone. With that, Delta could definitely say they don’t allow it, but then that makes them just as stupid as the company that refuses to serve the gay community. Pandering to people is America’s weakness. Just grow a pair and treat it like a stupid bumper sticker

Most people with a functional frontal lobe would say a swastika is in fact pretty severely different from a pride flag, but in any case if the discussion is about “rights” the airline has the right to boot him from their privately-owned aircraft if they want to.

The conflict in Gaza is invoked:

Free Palestine

Does that have anything to do with this post?

Great question, I want the genocide of the Palestine people to remain fresh in peoples minds. Never again can we have such an evil act be committed. I know it is uncomfortable but image the bombs being dropped on innocent babes. Pray for Palestine.

So the answer is no then

Trump is discussed:

As a Jew, I will tell you I do not fear Trump. Instead the modern Nazis are those calling for the destruction of Israel on college campuses. Those are not Trump supporters

No you don’t fear trump because you’re a fucking anti-vax Ben Shapiro fan, of course you hate college campuses.

Do you make it a habit to angrily guess people beliefs for the purpose of insults?

You can click on their profile, genius.

The culture of Hawaii somehow leads to another slapfight:

You’re also not from Hawaii and immediately assume what the culture and the people would think. BRAH! Racism is racism. Everyone in Hawaii knows what that symbol means. You are talking about a culture that had everything stripped away by American businessmen. Had their culture and language banned by those same people. But you think they would be tolerant of Nazis?! I’ve never seen a Nazi or any white nationalist in Hawaii. I’m born and raised here. They would never last long. Don’t make assumptions about a culture, people, land that you know little about. But you assume you know because you’re from another island nation? 🤦🏻‍♂️

Don't get roiled into the woke people fights because you think "you're with it".

So this is your response after realizing that you are out of your depth? 🤙🏻

It's adult advice. Grow up!

You’re arguing on Reddit? Hahaha. Dude…. No. You made something up that you couldn’t back up that’s based on your narrow perspective. And when met with a local from Hawaii. You threw a tantrum because you got called out on your BS.

A user seems to think a publicly-traded corporation can’t be a private entity:

People keep saying delta is private, they aren’t. But that’s kind of irrelevant.

Again, a “public company” is still a “private entity” in the eyes of the law - unless the government owns them. You need to seriously get better read my friend.

I don’t need to “get better read”. I understand completely. It’s a technicality that was stated incorrectly. All I did was correct him. You really have a chip on your shoulder dude. You went full bore attack mode on someone who agrees with you 100% about the Nazis. You don’t even know why you are mad. At this point it would almost be worth claiming to be one even though I detest them just to see how fast it gives you a stroke.

Is Marxism just as bad?

I feel the same way about Marxists....

Really? You equate someone with leftist ideas about economic class to someone who literally wants to exterminate an entire religion?

Perhaps you are picking the opposite extremes of both movements and trying to make a comparison?

Lol, what “moderate” tenets of Nazism make their desire for genocide ok?

The First Amendment is debated as infinitum:

the first amendment only applies to the government. private businesses and employers are at liberty to regulate speech as they see fit/want to tailor their public image.

I’m not sure about that, do you have a source? It’s like the whole thing with them saying that they don’t need to serve gay people cakes if they don’t want to being illegal.

The source is the constitution. Go read it.
your own example of a private business was ruled in favor of the business.

Ok im not a government expert jeez I thought that was how it worked dw tho the 20 comments in response have clarified it. Idk why people are so outraged at me?
If you aren’t an expert and you don’t know what you are talking about, you don’t need to comment with unearned confidence like you have the answer. That’s why we are downvoting you.

The Flairs:

“You’re seriously a living meme.”
“Well despite your toxic attitude, I will thank you for your service.“
“You’re arguing on Reddit? Hahaha. Dude…. No”

I read this series in about 2003-05, I think it was a trilogy. It was a war story with people learning to use dragons as weapons of war. Broadly analogous to First World War fighter pilots figuring out how airplanes would work in war.
I remember the main character as a kid saw dragons in a circus before the war started.