Feminists demonize masculinity and describe hypermasculinity as bad for men and deadly. Well, that's all bullshit. Being masculine actually can be a great thing for men.
In fact, research shows negative perceptions of masculinity is linked to worse mental health in men, and the phrase toxic masculinity could contribute to men perceiving masculinity that way. A meta-analysis of 58 studies from 1978 to 2021 found that while androgyny was the biggest protective factor against depression for both men and women, being undifferentiated (i.e.: normative) was the least likely to be a protective factor. Masculinity was a strong protective factor against depression for both men and women and femininity was slightly a protective factor against depression for women and both male and female college students, but that protective factor from femininity only began to emerge with the slow increase in the national education and income index from 1990 to 2019. However, as life expectancy has increased, this negative correlation between masculinity and depression has become less significant, but it's still moderately correlated and thus still a moderate protective factor against depression. They believe it's possible that back when life expectancies were lower, masculine people were less likely to admit to depression, but this might not be plausible given that masculinity was associated with less depression not only for men, but women, too, and women's feelings receive more empathy. The traits of masculinity measured include self-confidence, perseverance, standing up for oneself under pressure, competitiveness, independence, etc. Research has often overlooked that masculinity and femininity were positively correlated because social support and help seeking was labeled as feminine traits to be measured, and these traits were associated with a protection of a confident, masculine outlook backed up by social support and help seeking behaviors. Nonetheless, this doesn't mean men need to just get therapists. Men prefer doing something about the problem, whereas women prefer talking about the issue. Group therapy between men with goal-oriented tasks and activities tend to be more helpful for men than talk therapy and this is often due to evolutionary/biological reasons rather than socialization.
That can also be why masculine men don't seek social support alongside society being dismissive towards men suffering and these men dealing with society's mean gender roles toward men. It's not that they're refusing to get help when society offers help just to be manly. Femininity was measured as gentleness, helpfulness, etc. Among male college students, femininity was a protective factor against depression and was correlated positively with masculinity for this reason. People who scored low on both masculinity and femininity (undifferentiated) was more likely to be depressed. Androgynous people, however, were not actually androgynous. They scored high on both masculinity and femininity and I already elaborated on how they measured masculine and feminine traits and how they both help when these traits are combined together.
This study found that certain masculine traits, like winning or emotional control was associated with health benefits for men but other traits, like self-reliance, recklessness, playboy behavior, and power against women) were associated with health-risk behaviors. This study found men who perceived themselves as more masculine were far more likely to have better mental health, have better emotional control, have high high confidence, have high ability to take risks, be married, have a college degree, lack depression, have good relationship quality, have a good body image, be happy, be satisfied with life and be rich. They also were more likely to have been aggressive, take advantage of others, take charge, or enjoy fights. There's some negative aspects but far more positive aspects. Nonetheless, these men were talking about whether they view themselves as masculine rather than objective masculinity. This study found 4 categories: extreme hypermasculinity (characterized by medium dominance/aggression, somewhat higher sexual identity, and very high anti-femininity or devaluation of emotions), traditional masculine (characterized by medium dominance/aggression, and somewhat lower anti-femininity attitudes and somewhat lower sexual identity), traditional hypermasculine (characterized by higher dominance/aggression, higher sexual identity, and somewhat higher anti-feminine attitudes and somewhat higher devaluation of emotion), and non-hypermasculinity (low scores on all of those traits). Non-hypermasculine scored the lowest on hostility toward women and depression. Traditional hypermasculine and extreme hypermasculine scored higher on hostility toward women and depression. Traditional masculine men scored in the middle of the two measures. Extreme hypermasculine score higher on self esteem whereas the other 3 were similar on self-esteem. The traditional hypermasculine group had a disproportionate rate of fraternity members.

Handgrip strength associated with better life outcomes for men.

Men experience scored lower on fear, anxiety and emotional dependence than women, and the reason had to do with differences in physical strength.
Two studies found that differences in physical strength accounted for why men are less fearful or anxious than women. This study by Nicholas Kerry and Damian Murray found that because women score higher than men on neuroticism (a big 5 personality trait), it was due to differences in grip strength between men and women. They found that gender differences between men and women on the anxiety facet of Neuroticism was explained by differences in grip strength. This means that it did not account for differences in overall neuroticism, but the anxiety facet of neuroticism. This other study also found that the gender differences between men and women in anxiety were explained by grip strength differences. Cross-national research has shown that women in all countries scored higher than men on all 4 facets of emotionality, and the gender difference was bigger in rich, egalitarian countries except the honesty-humility facet. In a study of 1,399 undergraduates at 4 universities, the researchers found that grip strength accounted for more than half of the gender difference in fearfulness. In fact, the 8% of women who were stronger than the average man were less fearful than the 22% most fearful men. In two of the 5 samples, grip strength completely explained the gender experience, and when controlling for it, the gender difference was entirely gone. It did not explain the difference in sentimentality, but explained a considerable portion of the gender difference in anxiety and emotional dependence.
Handgrip strength tends to be evolutionarily beneficial for men.
Another finding is that differences in handgrip strength was correlated with promiscuity, shoulder-to-hip ratio, age at first intercourse, and aggressive behavior in men but not women when studying college students. In a meta-analysis, handgrip strength in men was correlated positively with facial attractiveness, self-perceived mate value, walking style attractiveness, dance quality attractiveness, hunting reputation (among hunter gatherers), number of sex partners, male typical body morphology (shoulder-to-hip ratio), self-reported popularity, number of children, self-reported aggression, self-perceived fighting ability and facial dominance/facial aggression. Handgrip strength in men was negatively correlated with being victimized by others and handgrip strength was associated with earlier age of first intercourse. This study found among Spanish teens that fighting ability and physical aggression were associated with each other for boys, but this relationship decreased with age. By late adolescence, fighting ability and anger become linked together for boys, which means their aggression strategy shifted from physical to nonphysical with age. Among late adolescent girls (ages 17/18), fighting ability and aggression have no association together.
Muscularity leads to better mental health for men.
A study of 9,000 adults had them squeeze a gripper to measure their maximum strength. For every additional 5kg that a man can grip, their risk of suicidal ideation decreases by 16%. A meta-analysis of 21 studies from 26 countries and past 80,000 participants found that muscular strength is associated with less depression among adults.

Jocks in high school and college tend to fare better in life, debunking the "peaked in high school" myth.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not the jocks who fare worse in life. It's the outcasts and bullying victims. A 2001 study found that young adults who were jocks in high school, despite higher levels of drinking, had less social isolation, lower suicide attempts, low depression and high self-esteem at age 24. The people who identified as the princess in high school (i.e.: popular girl) had neither worse nor better outcomes in life than others, but the smart people and jocks fared the best and criminal teens fared the worst. This study also found that sports involvement had more associated with drinking but better academic achievements, and that jocks and popular girls did not fare worse academically, and many went to college. The criminal students fared way worse than anyone else. Jocks also were more likely to be fit and in shape as adults, had better jobs in the future, earned more money as adults than band geeks and yearbook staff, and had lower self-harm or suicidality rates. College athletes also had better wellbeing and job success later in life, but less physical wellbeing if they played football/basketball, presumably due to concussions, joint issues, diabetes, etc. This study also found that college jocks earned more than their peers, including the nerds, and had more prestigious jobs, even if they came from socioeconomically diverse sports teams or joined teams with lower academic thresholds. The only disadvantage is they were slightly less likely to be picked for research/data analysis skills. Jocks in high school also self-harmed less and had less suicidality whereas teens in alternative subcultures (like goth, emo or punk) were more likely to self-harm or have suicidality. Middle school and high school jocks both had better grades, too. In fact, being an athlete without labeling oneself as a jock for boys was only associated with the winning masculine stereotype, whereas identifying as a jock was associated with most of the 5 masculine stereotypes measured (including being a playboy).

Conclusions

Hypermasculinity can be good for men. This doesn't mean we should force it on men or ridicule them for defying masculine traits, but we should not demonize masculinity either. Masculinity can be about being aggressive to protect others and be assertive and fighting back, or being able to handle life struggles (although we shouldn't condemn people if they continue to suffer due to their struggles in life), or being muscular, or being able to get a relationship. Nonetheless, men who fail to conform to these traits should not be ridiculed, and if they experience distress from being able to achieve these goals, we can help them figure out how to achieve them.
Masculinity is not necessarily about being a violent person in general or being a womanizer or being reckless or being mean.

Getting organized to sit down and write a major term paper is such a daunting task for us folks with ADHD. As a student I would have vague ideas of what I want to write, but lacked the executive function to get to the job done. I would stare at a blank Word doc, type a sentence, delete a sentence, repeat. Unexpected for a writing major, I know. Are you looking for a way to break out of this cycle?
May I present: the Index Card Method.
As a high school student in the 1990s, I was forced to use this method to write a ten page senior thesis. Nearly all senior level English classes in my school used this method. Prior to that year, I had seen students carrying around fat stacks of index cards, protecting them like their ability to graduate depended on them. It did. I begrudgingly followed this methodical approach even though it wasn't "the way I write." Ironically, I found it so helpful I continued using this method throughout college, and admittedly even in grad school 25 years later.
What is it?
It's a low-tech system of organizing your sources, topics, details, citations, and anything else that goes into your paper.
Why low-tech?
It is a hands-on process loaded with sensory actions. Physically handling and arranging the index cards helps me focus on a task. Filling out an index card and setting it aside and then picking up another FEELS productive. Seeing a growing pile of index cards as you move through the project LOOKS like productivity. These sensory activities boost my momentum.
The best part of this method is how it breaks down a mountain of a project into smaller tasks without requiring me to create a big plan before I can start working on it. The size of each task is literally the size of an index card. Plus, it is an opportunity to use those cool pens you bought the last time you said you would start journaling.
The Index Card Method cannot be done the night before a paper is due, at least I wouldn't try it anyway. If you don't like writing outlines or drafts, give this method a try - but if you're cramming, do give yourself a week to get it done.
How does it work?

Step 1: Cards

Get some 3x5 index cards. For a 10-page, double spaced paper, you will need around 300 cards.
Do not get 150 4x6 cards. They must be 3x5.
For this post, I will assume anyone following this method is using lined index cards. It does not matter if the cards are lined, but know that when I say "On the top line write..." I mean where the actual top line of the card would be. This also means you will be writing across width of the cards in landscape orientation, meaning a full line of text on a 3x5 card runs 5 inches, not 3 inches.
There are two simple, but vital rules to remember when creating cards.

1. Only write on one side of the card. Leave the other side blank. You will need to see all of a card's contents at a quick glance.
   
2. If you make a mistake on a card, immediately tear it in half so it doesn't get mixed up with the ones you want to keep.
   

Step 2: Thesis card

You will only have a thesis card if you are writing a thesis (argument) paper.
In the center of the top line of your thesis card, write "Thesis Statement."
Now write your thesis statement below that.

Step 3: Topic cards

In the center of the top line write "Topic." Below that, write the name of a topic related to your thesis statement.
Topics should be broad, written as one or two words. Create as many topic cards as you think you will need. You can always create more later, so don't get stuck on this part.
Example: topics related to a thesis on the healthcare industry may include: Insurance, Costs, Medicare, Medicaid, Prevention, Prescription Drugs, Hospitals, etc.

Step 4: First Layout

Spread out your topic cards on a table. Select the broadest topics and line them up in a row in the order in which you would like them in your paper. Now arrange the narrower topics in columns below the broad topics in the order that makes sense to you. Using the example of the healthcare industry in the previous step, "Costs" may be a broad topic with "Insurance" and "Prescription Drugs" listed beneath it.
Split a topic if you need to. "Costs" could also be split into "Consumer Costs" and "National Costs", then "Insurance" and "Prescription Drugs".
Don't expect to have a lot of topic cards at this point. You may only have one or two subtopics for each broad topic. This is fine. You can always add more as you go along.
Take a picture of your topic cards in this arrangement.
Congratulations, you just made an outline!
Now type it out. Title it "Preliminary Outline."

Step 5: Sources

Go find sources you would like to use for your paper. When you find a source you would like to use, create a bibliography card.

Step 6: Bibliography cards

In the center of the top line write "Bibliography".
In the upper left hand corner of the card on the top line, write the number "1", as it is your first Bibliography card. This is your source ID.
Now write the complete and proper reference of your source, formatted according to your citation style. Include doi links, if applicable. Where italic font is used in a citation, underline it on your card.
Open a new document file. Title it "References", "Works Cited", etc., depending on your citation style. Type out your bibliography cards in the order appropriate to your citation style. Most likely they will be alphabetical by author. As you find more sources and write out bibliography cards, add them to this document.
About citation styles:
A citation style is a way to reference your sources, specifically how you list them out and how you identify where you found a fact or quote.
If you are in highschool, your teacher will tell you how to write write and format sources and citations. If they don't, ask.
If you are an undergrad, most professors don't care which style you choose, but they want it consistent. If this is the case, I recommend using APA or MLA because they use simple, in-line citations.
If you are a graduate student, use the appropriate style for your field. If your reference style uses foot notes or end notes, please be aware you may need to create citation IDs later to help you stay organized.

Step 7: Read and Highlight

As you read through your sources, highlight anything that stands out to you that you may want to use in your paper.
This is where I would normally say it does not matter if your sources are printed or digital, but for many of us it does matter. Stepping away from technology is one the reasons I find this method so effective. I encourage you to print articles or photocopy sources when possible.
Your school likely has access to full-text articles online that can be downloaded as PDFs and printed later.
If your source is text from a website, right click on in the body of the text and select Print. When the print window pops up, select PDF (or Adobe PDF) as your printer. In the next pop up, select where you would like to store your file. Your source is now saved as a PDF. By the way, printing to a PDF is the easiest way to save a file while maintaining its formatting. Try it from any program. Now when you print it to paper, it will look like the PDF.

STEP 8: Detail cards

In the center of the top line write the topic related to the highlighted text. If you do not have a related topic card, make one.
In the upper left corner on the top line, write the source ID that matches the one on its respective bibliography card.
In the upper right corner on the top line of each card write the page number(s) from your source as "p 87" or "pp 87-88". If your source does not have page numbers, write your source's equivalent as it applies (act/scene numbers, time stamp, etc.). Look up a style reference guide for requirements.
Now in your own words, write about an area you highlighted. If you want to directly quote the article, make sure you use quotation marks. Otherwise, simply paraphrase it. Use complete sentences.
If you are copying a long quote and run out of room on a card, write the topic, source ID, and page number on another new card and continue writing your quote. In the bottom right corners write "1 of 2" and "2 of 2" respectively.
Create bibliography and detail cards for all your sources. Find more sources as needed. For a 10-page double spaced paper, expect to have around 150-200 detail cards.

Step 9: Second Layout

Lay out all of your topic cards in the same order as your preliminary outline, only this time line them all up in one row.
By this time you may also want to combine or eliminate topics because your project took a different direction from when you first wrote them. This is fine.
When you think you have enough detail cards, sort them into piles by topic. Now arrange your detail cards in columns under their topics in a way that makes sense to you.
Take a picture of all your cards in this arrangement.
Congratulations, you just layed out your final outline!

Step 10: Type Your Outline

Save a copy of your preliminary outline and title it "Final Outline." Fill in the text from the detail cards. Each detail card should be a separate bullet point on your outline. After typing out a detail card, add the citation at the end. You already know the source because you wrote the source number in the upper left hand corner of each card.
You should not have anything in your final outline that is not written down on an index card.

Step 11: First Draft

Save a copy of your final outline and name it "First Draft." Now arrange your bullet points into paragraphs. This is your draft.
Now print it . Proofread it. Ask a friend to proofread it. Mark it up and make any necessary changes on paper. Don't change any quoted text because quotes are ...well ...quotes.

Step 12: Final Copy

Save a copy of your First draft and name the file "Final Copy." Type the edits you handwrote on paper. I realize with today's technology a lot of proofreading and peer editing is done electronically. This is fine. If you're using Google Docs, be sure to use Suggestion Mode. If using Word, turn on Track Changes.
Your paper is done.
High school students, if your teacher doesn't think you've made enough changes between your draft and your final copy, hand over your stack of index cards, both outlines, and your highlighted sources. They will know you didn't use ChatGPT or copy someone else's work because you can't fake what you've just handed to them.
Edit: See my other post for a technique that harnesses your ADHD to help you organize a project or to present new ideas to a group.
https://www.reddit.com/TwoXADHD/s/Y4pUfQR0R3

PhenQ a suscité beaucoup d'attention et de reconnaissance dans le domaine des compléments pour la perte de poids. Cet article exhaustif vise à explorer l'efficacité, les ingrédients et les avertissements critiques des clients concernant PhenQ. Comprendre ces éléments peut vous aider à décider si PhenQ est le bon choix pour votre parcours de perte de poids.
PhenQ est un complément pour la gestion du poids. C'est une formule récemment améliorée qui vise à cibler les cinq principaux domaines de la santé métabolique.

Qu'est-ce que PhenQ ?

PhenQ est un complément alimentaire populaire conçu pour aider à la perte de poids. Il prétend offrir plusieurs avantages en combinant les effets de divers suppléments de perte de poids en une seule pilule. Commercialisé comme une solution tout-en-un, PhenQ vise à aider les utilisateurs à brûler les graisses, supprimer l'appétit et augmenter les niveaux d'énergie.

Comment Fonctionne PhenQ ?

PhenQ fonctionne selon une approche multifacette :

1. Brûleur de Graisses : Il augmente la thermogenèse et le métabolisme du corps, aidant à brûler les graisses stockées.
2. Suppresseur d'Appétit : Il réduit les fringales et contrôle la faim, facilitant le suivi d'un régime hypocalorique.
3. Boost d'Énergie : En contrant la fatigue souvent associée aux régimes, il aide les utilisateurs à rester actifs et à maintenir leurs routines d'exercice.
4. Amélioration de l'Humeur : PhenQ contient des ingrédients qui améliorent l'humeur pour prévenir l'irritabilité et les sautes d'humeur qui peuvent accompagner les régimes.

Ingrédients de PhenQ

L'efficacité de tout supplément réside dans ses ingrédients. PhenQ offre un mélange d'ingrédients naturels scientifiquement prouvés pour aider à la perte de poids. Voici les composants clés :

1. α-Lacys Reset® : Une formule brevetée qui combine l'acide alpha-lipoïque et la cystéine pour augmenter le métabolisme et la thermogenèse.
2. Poudre de Capsimax : Un mélange de capsicum, pipérine, caféine et niacine (vitamine B3). Ces ingrédients travaillent ensemble pour augmenter la production de chaleur du corps, favorisant la combustion des graisses.
3. Picolinate de Chrome : Un minéral essentiel qui aide à contrôler les niveaux de sucre dans le sang et à réduire les envies de sucre.
4. Caféine : Connue pour sa capacité à augmenter la vigilance et réduire la fatigue, la caféine aide également à brûler les graisses et améliore les performances physiques.
5. Nopal : Un extrait de cactus riche en fibres qui aide à se sentir rassasié et réduit l'appétit. Il fournit également des acides aminés essentiels.
6. L-Carnitine Fumarate : Un acide aminé qui aide à transformer les graisses en énergie, combattant la fatigue associée aux régimes.

Avertissements et Effets Secondaires des Clients

Bien que PhenQ soit fabriqué à partir d'ingrédients naturels et soit généralement considéré comme sûr, certains utilisateurs peuvent ressentir des effets secondaires. Voici quelques problèmes potentiels à prendre en compte :

1. Sensibilité à la Caféine : PhenQ contient de la caféine, qui peut provoquer des tremblements, des maux de tête et des troubles du sommeil chez les personnes sensibles.
2. Réactions Allergiques : Certains utilisateurs peuvent être allergiques à certains ingrédients de PhenQ, comme le chrome ou le nopal.
3. Problèmes Digestifs : Des ingrédients comme le nopal peuvent causer des inconforts digestifs chez certains utilisateurs.

Il est toujours recommandé de consulter un professionnel de santé avant de commencer tout nouveau supplément, surtout pour les personnes ayant des problèmes de santé préexistants ou prenant d'autres médicaments.

PhenQ Fonctionne-t-il Vraiment ?

L'efficacité de PhenQ varie d'une personne à l'autre. De nombreux utilisateurs ont rapporté des résultats positifs, incluant la perte de poids, la réduction de l'appétit et l'augmentation des niveaux d'énergie. Cependant, il est essentiel de se rappeler qu'aucun supplément ne peut remplacer une alimentation saine et un exercice régulier. PhenQ doit être utilisé comme partie d'une stratégie globale de perte de poids pour de meilleurs résultats.
PhenQ est un complément pour la gestion du poids. C'est une formule récemment améliorée qui vise à cibler les cinq principaux domaines de la santé métabolique.

Conclusion

PhenQ est un supplément de perte de poids bien équilibré avec une variété d'ingrédients conçus pour cibler différents aspects de la perte de poids. Bien que de nombreux utilisateurs aient trouvé du succès avec PhenQ, il est crucial d'avoir des attentes réalistes et de comprendre que les résultats individuels peuvent varier. Toujours considérer les effets secondaires potentiels et consulter un professionnel de santé pour s'assurer que c'est une option sûre et appropriée pour vous.

NADH testing and the Karen Read Blood Alcohol Mystery
u/Upper_Canada_Pango
June 8, 2024
TL; DR
The commonwealth’s estimate of Karen Read’s blood alcohol range is not forensically suitable and should be disregarded by the jury due to all sorts of reasonable doubt.
Introduction
I am not a lab tech, biologist or other sort of expert on human metabolism or toxicology. I do, however, have some education in organic chemistry and a practical understanding of some aspects of anatomy, physiology, biology and pharmacology. For those in the healthcare field that are offended by my deviations from APA formatting, please forgive me: for I absolutely hate APA, I am saddened when I am forced to use it, and I am just not going to follow a specific style guide for this post. In-text citations will not be used, references will be both disorganised and poorly formatted. I will indicate references in-text through the use of numbers in superscript. All times will be given in 24 hour format, not military format, I don’t know why the military is allergic to colons, but I like them, so they’re coming in! I did not proof read this, it’s already taken way too much of my life. I am also quite disappointed that my formatting won't paste properly into the post editor, the markdown editor is very clunky.
Testimony from the Karen Read trial involving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ opinion of Karen Read’s blood alcohol level at the alleged time of the alleged vehicle strike on John O’Keefe piqued my interest. Particularly I was fascinated by the fact that no direct alcohol breath test or blood test was performed, nor were any tests performed to detect any alcohol metabolite, although I have yet to find a news source that has stated as much, in fact they either omit the test type or misrepresent the test as one to detect the presence of alcohol in blood serum^{2,3,4,5,6.8,etc ad nauseum}.. Instead Dr. Gary Faller, pathologist at Good Samaritan Medical Center, testified that a serum test was run to detect the presence of NADH¹. I know what you’re thinking: “Why did they perform a screening test using an ubiquitous endogenous redox agent with no forensic validity¹³ instead of for alcohol or an alcohol metabolite like acetaldehyde, ethyl glucuronide or ethyl sulphate⁷?” and yeah, that’s what I’m thinking, too! For forensically valid results there needs to be a confirmatory test done¹³, which clearly either didn’t happen or wasn’t useful - otherwise it would have been introduced by the prosecution. So I have put this together to show what NADH testing means, why it is used, how it works and what the limitations of this testing are.
The Basics
Testing for NADH is done to screen for the presence of alcohol. Screening tests are a fast-and-cheap way of getting an idea of what’s going on, and are used when precision and certainty are not necessary. For example if you are in a hospital and have someone on a psych hold, you might want to get an idea of whether their behaviour is in part driven by consumption of drugs. Their life doesn’t depend on the answer and neither does their freedom (beyond the short-term). Forensic lab testing for alcohol uses dual-column gas chromatography or gas chromatography/mass spectrometry¹³. These are large, expensive, delicate machines so you don’t just send everything to GC/MS analysis without a good reason, just like you’re not going to get a CT scan for a sprained thumb. If you are a hospital and the cops want a blood sample for forensic analysis you can just draw blood for them, put it in the freezer until they pick it up, and then it’s the cops’ problem. Hospitals are not in the business of forensics.
So why Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-H testing? Well that’s simple enough. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide is an essential, innate redox agent that exists in all your cellular fluids and is there to accept hydrogen atoms as other substances are oxidized¹⁴. It therefor exists in different redox states, the oxidised state NAD+ and the reduced state NADH. “nicotinamide adenine nucleotide (NAD) is required in more enzymatic reactions than perhaps any other small molecule^16.” These two forms are non-destructively converted back and forth in various biochemical reactions, but the nucleotide can be consumed in certain reactions so it has to be constantly manufactured by the body in order for us to continue living.. NAD is synthesised in the liver, nerve cells and immune cells, and salvaged for reuse in a wide variety of tissues.
The primary way alcohol is metabolised it interacts with a class of enzymes called alcohol dehydrogenases¹⁵ (confusingly abbreviated ADH, despite not being structurally similar to NADH). When a molecule of ethanol is oxidised two hydrogen atoms get knocked off, one off the -OH alcohol group, and one off the carbon atom the -OH group is attached to, so the -OH becomes an =O converting the ethanol to an aldehyde called ethanal or more commonly acetaldehyde. These hydrogen atoms are accepted by the NAD+, reducing it to NADH. You have a limited supply of NAD+. Drugs whether recreational or medical, or other substances that are metabolised by oxidation will compete for NAD+, raise NADH levels and slow the metabolism of alcohol. Other oxidation reactions will pump up the NADH levels too. These variables are huge! Worse still, NAD+ conversion to NADH is heavily effected by cellular metabolism, meaning that acute stress and exercise will convert NAD+ into NADH as well¹⁴. Finally multiple sclerosis, which Karen Read has, will approximately double the baseline serum NADH level.¹⁷ Karen Read undergoing acute stress. CPR is exercise. Was she on other medications that increase NADH levels?
Rates of alcohol metabolism can vary up to 4-fold, especially since it occurs primarily in the stomach and liver. Large amounts of ADH are released in the stomach, so when drinks are consumed on an empty stomach they are dumped into the intestines quickly and are absorbed into portal circulation without giving the stomach ADH a chance to mitigate the effects, but then alcohol will be metabolised more quickly after ingestion. Liver damage will slow the rate of metabolism as well.
The Testimony
Dr. Faller reports a time of blood draw around 09:08-09:13 , the blood was centrifuged and seperated, the plasma was put into a machine that tested for alcohol giving result of 93mg/dl serum alcohol level. This, if accurate, would be higher than the whole blood alcohol level. The doctor refused to even ballpark this to a percentage for either serum or whole blood. He did acknowledge that LDH and hemolysis and bilirubin levels can interfere but should be flagged. The defence did bring up abnormal muscle degeneration, and so on but the doctor wasn’t aware of this literature. I don’t know that the defence couldn’t proceed due to this, but I feel they may have missed a trick here. Hopefully they will call a more informed expert on NAD/NADH metabolism.
The forensic toxicologist estimated her peak whole blood alcohol percentage at between 0.135 and 0.292 assuming last drink at 00:45 but I don’t want to even get deeply into these estimates because they’re built on a foundation of sand: we don’t really know when Karen Read started drinking, how much she drank, when she stopped drinking, or how much the NADH test was thrown off by stress, activity, disease or medication. We didn’t also didn’t get into any description of the test process itself. We don’t know if the machine measured NADH once, or if it measured NADH before and after adding ADH, or if it measured NADH only after adding ADH. We don’t know enough to evaluate this information.
On either basis, the results should be discarded.
Armchair Forensics
Personally I think Karen was drunk, at some point, but “is this evidence good enough to secure a conviction for an OWI?” is a whole other question. So is “How much did she drink?”; “How impaired was she, and when?”; “when did she start and stop drinking?” and critically from a conviction standpoint “what was her BAC at the alleged time of the alleged incident, and how do we know?”
We can kind of armchair lab tech this, given some assumptions. I don’t have access to the actual bar receipts but it seems probable, based on what I can find in the news^9,10,11, that while at the two bars she had somewhere between 8 and 15 standard drinks depending on if any of those drinks were doubles. She was drinking these between 20:58 approximately 00:00. I do not have information at this point eliminate pre- and post-drinking, all these people seem like they drink quite a bit. I can’t even discount the possibility that she got up at 04:30 and slammed some back. If we assume that these are all the drinks she had before the alleged incident, and she didn’t have any after the alleged incident, and we accept a weight estimate at 60kg/132lbs¹² then we can use a simple web tools to estimate her BAC(Appendix A). The results are generally mortifying, with estimates essentially ranging from ‘maybe unable to walk without assistance’ to an acute medical emergency . Maybe Karen can hold her liquor quite well or maybe these calculators were all designed by and for lightweights since evidently my wife and basically any girlfriend I’ve ever had could evidently drink the average BAC calculator designer under the table.
Conclusion
Without access to receipts, and since “no one appeared drunk” and at no point did anyone testify to detecting the odour of alcohol from her: not the paramedics, not the cops, not the ER doctor, not her so-called friends so based on my armchair BAC results (appendix A) show either she was stinking drunk and somehow no one noticed or she didn’t actually consume 8+ standard alcoholic drinks in 3 hours. I lean towards the former, but without confirmatory, forensic testing I don’t see how this gets to the “beyond reasonable doubt” standard. I don’t understand why the first police on the scene didn’t perform a PBT on her based on their testimony that she was saying anything like “did I hit him?” or “I hit him.” It also doesn’t make any sense that no one applied for a blood draw warrant once the picture supposedly started getting more clear.
We have another estimated 3+ weeks of trial for things to develop, and clearly there’s information I have not and/or can not access, but I find it very striking that yet again we have supposed forensic evidence that is not up to snuff. In combination with all the other shenanigans and incompetence displayed during and after the investigation this entire process starts looking like it has more to do with tunnel-vision, conspiratorial afterthought, and/or prosecutorial sleight-of-hand.
If I were on the jury I would be fighting to acquit based on copious amounts of doubt regarding essentially every element of every charge.
References
1- Baker, Emily D.. (May 28, 2024). MA. v Karen Read Trial Day 18 - Afternoon Session. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVX-YZ1wkDc
2- Ramer, Holly. (May 28, 2024). Jurors hear about Karen Read's blood alcohol level as murder trial enters fifth week. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/jurors-hear-karen-reads-blood-alcohol-level-murder-110624411
3- Schooley, Matt (May 28, 2024). What was Karen Read's blood alcohol level on the night John O'Keefe died? Experts testify at trial. CBS News.
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/karen-read-live-stream-today-brian-higgins/
4- Ramer, Holly (May 29, 2024), What was Karen Read's blood alcohol level the day John O'Keefe died? Here's what we learned. NBC Boston.
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/what-was-karen-reads-blood-alcohol-level-on-the-day-john-okeefe-died-heres-what-we-learned-this-week/3382901/
5- Lavery, Tréa. (May 29, 2024). Karen Read trial live updates: Read may have had BAC more than three times limit. MassLive. https://www.masslive.com/news/2024/05/karen-read-trial-live-updates-for-tuesday-may-28.html
6- Reynolds, Lance. (May 28, 2024). Karen Read murder trial Day 18: Witnesses focus on O’Keefe’s injuries, Read’s blood alcohol level. Boston Herald. https://www.bostonherald.com/2024/05/28/karen-read-murder-trial-day-18-witnesses-focus-on-okeefes-injuries-reads-blood-alcohol-level/
7- Ferguson, Sian (May 1, 2023) How is Alcohol Detected in a Urine Test?. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/urine-test-alcohol
8- Benoit, Katie. (May 28, 2023). Expert testifies about Karen Read's blood alcohol content from morning O'Keefe found dead. WJAR. https://turnto10.com/news/local/karen-read-trial-resumes-tuesday-john-okeefe-murder-canton-dedham-boston-police
9- Lavery, Tréa. (June 5, 2024). Karen Read trial live updates: State police investigator recalls interview with Read. https://www.masslive.com/news/2024/06/karen-read-trial-live-updates-testimony-resumes-on-wednesday.html
10- Tenser, Phil (April 16, 2024). Karen Read murder case: Alleged timeline, according to the prosecution. WCVB. https://www.wcvb.com/article/karen-read-case-prosecution-alleged-timeline/60510196
11- Bienick, David. (May 10, 2024). Karen Read murder trial: Owners of home where O'Keefe was found testify. WCVB. https://www.wcvb.com/article/karen-read-trial-live-updates-may-10-2024/60755150
12- Ankit. (February 28, 2024) Karen Read Net Worth, Wiki, Parents, Ethnicity, Religion, Bio, Age, Family And More. SarkariExam.com
https://www.sarkariexam.com/karen-read-net-worth-wiki-parents-ethnicity-religion-bio-age-family-and-more/617729
13- Okorocha, Okorie. (April, 2021). Alcohol Toxicology For Civil Lawyers. Advocate Magazine. https://www.advocatemagazine.com/article/2021-april/alcohol-toxicology-for-civil-lawyers
14- Walzik, David et. al. (January 4, 2023) Tissue-specific effects of exercise as NAD+-boosting strategy: Current knowledge and future perspectives. Acta Physiologica. https://doi.org/10.1111/apha.13921
15- Cederbaum, Arthur. (November 1, 2013). Alcohol Metabolism. Clinical Liver Disease. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cld.2012.08.002
16- Penberthy, Todd & Tsunoda, Ikuo. (March 5, 2009). The Importance of NAD in Multiple Sclerosis. Current Pharmaceutical Design. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2651433/
17- Braidy, Nady et al. (November 6, 2013). Serum nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide levels through disease course in multiple sclerosis. Elsevier. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006899313011475
Appendix A: BAC Calculator results

• https://smartserve.ca/bac-chart/ has limited weight inputs, if we pick 125lb female and 8 drinks over 3 hours we get a peak BAC of 0.25, a shocking 3+ times the legal limit and physically dangerous, with risks including inadequate breathing pattern, incontinence, inability to walk without assistance and loss of consciousness. Smartserve ballparks an alcohol elimation rate of 1 standard drink per hour, so in the 8-drink scenario, on Jan 29 at 04:53 when she called Jen McCabe she should have had the equivalent of 0-3 drinks left in her system, and none whatsoever when her blood was drawn, but the NADH based estimate for her BAC at time of draw (09:08)was 0.093%1. Unfortunately this calculator goes to a maximum of 9 drinks, so it was clearly designed by and for lightweights but we don’t need to assume any of these drinks were doubles based on the mortifying results from this and other calculators.
• I next tried https://alcohol.org/bac-calculato set for female 132 pounds, 8 drinks with a time since first drink of 3 hours 15 minutes to give blood alcohol at 00:15. It gives 0.31% and states “You're probably not reading this because there's a good chance that you're unconscious. This BAC indicates alcohol poisoning, and there is a very serious risk of long-term damage or death. If you or someone you're with are at this BAC level, you should seek immediate medical assistance.” I played around with this calculator a bit and it turns out it is also designed by and for lightweights. Nevertheless, it suggested that BAC would be back to 0 in 21 hours, which would be around 21:15 on January 29th.
• https://www.drinkfox.com/tools/bac-calculatoca set to 43 year old female, 60kg, gives me a BAC of 0.2267% at 00:00 and says would be down to 0.08% at 09:15, down to zero at 13:35.
• https://globalrph.com/medcalcs/blood-alcohol-calculator-bac-metric-of-alcohol-intoxication/ assuming 12oz drink size average at 5% abv (so 8 standard drinks) female 60kg gives an average female 0.307 blood alcohol at 00:00, 0.222% at 05:00. Finally 0.154% at 09:00

So, I want to preface this by saying this was originally a reply to another post critiquing CIG's development cycle - partially. Then, I realize what I was really replying to were the multitude of posts I've seen over the last weeks discussing different issues with the development and the game's state more broadly. There have been, without fail, regular posts, complaints, and questions about where the game's at and why things are a certain way.
Just some background: I only started following the game around 2021, so I definitely don't have the same historical traumas other players might express regarding the game. However, given that a true immersive space sim has been one of my greatest hopes in a game and my "meh" experience with Starfield (no hate, just didn't like it as much), I've followed SC's development pretty closely.
In that time, I've listened to a lot of voices both within and beyond the community. There have been many legitimate critiques, a decent amount of salt, and some pretty neat insights. This represents a synthesis of those voices and my views on where things are at regarding the game. My overall tl;dr: I think the game's moving at a decent clip and is working to fulfill its promises.
This post is aimed (an will undoubtedly fail to stem the tide of) those many posts I've seen over the last couple of months. You might disagree, but I hope you enjoy the read anything.

Starting Off: CIG in the Industry Ecosystem

Something folks need to realize when they're discussing a company like CIG is that it's a significant departure from most game companies in terms of its goals, organization, and history. It has similarities and differences with numerous other studios and publishers but is also unique in its execution.
To better illustrate this, I will try to draw comparisons to other studios in the industry. For example, given the size and intended scope, it might be fair to compare CIG to large publishers such as Blizzard or Ubisoft. It's a large publishing company with significant assets, a large team, and a stated goal to develop two AAA games. However, there are several important differences. First, we must understand that most large, well-known studios today had significant history and development leading up to their AAA releases.
Consider Larian studios. Prior to Baldur's Gate 3, it had a decades-long history developing the Divinity Series. Bethesda had several games before Morrowind, which I would consider their first foray into AAA game territory, to say nothing of Oblivion, Skryim, the Fallout Series, or Starfield. Ubisoft had the Tom Clancy series and Assassin's Creed, expanding on the scope of each subsequent game. Blizzard, of course, had Warcrafts 1 and 2 before Warcraft 3 and Starcraft. All of this represents substantial institutional expertise and memory. Teams and administrative sections with years of experience working together, using tools, developing workflows and assets, etc. Remember that Starfield had an eight-year development process - backed up by a company with almost half a century of experience.
CIG had none of that in its inception. It had to build its teams and organization from the ground up. It needed to find the right tools, then the right workflow for those tools. Hell, it needed to develop its own internal roadmap, to say nothing of its work with the larger public. It would be unfathomable that the company would not make mistakes in its organizational process or work with the fanbase. Consider, by way of example, what happened to John Romero when he left iD to open his own studio and develop his magnum opus... Daikatana (suck it down).

Funding and Ownership

A second factor that differentiates CIG is that it's a private company. Others, such as Ubisoft and Sega, are publicly traded or held by parent companies. This means that CIG has to approach funding from a radically different perspective than its contemporaries. There's no venture capital injections, no investments, and no parent publishing support. In its place, CIG won the proverbial lottery and seized on crowd-funding at the precise moment it was in the public zeitgeist. That gave them seed funding, but as the game's scope has increased, they need additional funding to support development. That's where ship sales come in.
In a sense, we can consider these in the same vein as microtransactions. They are digital assets purchased to allow certain capacities inside the game. However, they represent a significant difference from, say, Clash of Clans or Diablo IV. In the first sense, the ships are not Pay-to-Win or even really Pay-to-Play. The only ship you seriously need to get started in the game is a decent starter package ship, which tends to run between $40-90. Pretty much every other practical ship can be purchased in-game.
Admittedly, they do sell much more expensive ships, but these are not necessary to enjoy all the game's features. You can earn your way - fairly easily - to most of the ships in the game. The ships sell because people want to buy them, but not having them doesn't limit the game experience. Hell, you can try most of them out during the free fly events to see if you actually want them. I think the most problematic element that needs to be addressed are backfilling the early concept ships, though that requires proper integration and leads to my next point...
Even compared to when I first started in 2021, the ship release process appears to have improved, with CIG stepping back from releasing ships that are unfinished or that do not fit into the game yet. Their last few ships, such as the Vulture and Cutter, were all released alongside more feature-complete gameplay loops that allowed the ships to be used at their full capacity. Even the upcoming capital ships represent a release with more comprehensive engineering gameplay.
As a private company, they can take the time to develop elements as they need to. A public company like Sega or Ubisoft is beholden to its investors, and there are numerous predictable examples of its outcomes. Games like Cities Skylines 2, Battlefield 2142, Homeworld 3, Company of Heroes 3, the CoD series, and Redfall all represent, I argue, games released too soon due to publisher pressure. As the industry has been discussing lately, games like BG3, Animal Well, and Dave the Diver are all successful because the developers had time to cook. This is my speculation, but I believe that large publishers tried to seize on a quick-development, iterative release schedule as occurred with various sports franchises and the CoD series because it is profitable. Those, however, represent pretty terrible end products.

Interaction with the Player Base

The final element represents, I think, CIG's history. I think that it's entirely understandable that people would have some hard feelings about SC's early development. For all the reasons above, it sounds like CIG made some missteps in its process. It's also trying to manage the monumental challenge of a completely public development process. To compare, even BG3's early access process started in beta, when most of the features were already developed. It already had an engine. It was nearly feature-complete.
To compare, CIG developed its engine from scratch, and is still getting the last elements online. Every time it brings in a new system or feature, things break. From a development view, it doesn't make sense to focus on fixing some issues if you're going to have to do it all over again when the next system switches on. At the same time, because they have a public development process, they have to balance their resources and try to ensure the game is enjoyably playable. It's an unenviable position to be in, especially because the scope of their game really shows. I think a lot of frustration from players stems from being able to see what should be possible but isn't - at least not yet.
From what I gather, a significant issue in the early development was how the company communicated with its player base. I understand there was a lot of over-promising and under-delivering, alongside a lack of transparency about certain elements. Combined with the early ship release philosophy, the company finding its legs, and the nature of an alpha product, I can totally see how they'd alienate some folks.
From what I can tell, it looks like they're trying to make up for those issues. They've scaled back their promises to what's reasonable, have changed their ship release philosophy, are communicating with the community, and are regularly releasing substantial updates. To me, that represents a dynamic and active company. We might be able to compare this to games like Skull & Bones, Duke Nukem Forever, or Redfall. In each of these examples, development releases were chaotic and sporadic, publisher interference deeply fucked with the process, and communication was often severely lacking. Hell, there are a ton of small games I've followed that lack several of the positive markers I've noted. None of this is to say CIG is perfect by any stretch, but to me they're operating well within the boundaries of a healthy development cycle.

Conclusion: Chill, and a Special Note about Master Modes

The Internet's memory is long and (mostly) permanent. There's a lot of articles out there that have discussed controversies around CIG, such as whether it's vaporware, a scam, or predatory. I think that recent releases, along with the changing pattern of the company, show that it's sincerely trying to do right by its players. That doesn't mean there isn't room for disagreement about design choices; case in point: Master Modes.
There is controversy about this design choice because it represents a significant departure from what players had come to be used to. Personally, I don't think we have enough long-term information about how the system will play out to accurately judge it, and that's part of the process of the alpha - figuring that out. At the same time, the master modes are also emblematic of my argument above: CIG is doing things, trying things out, and improving on processes. Forward movement is occurring, and at an increasing pace.
I remember the disaster that was the 3.18 release. I have heard the stories about what free fly events were like in the past. The 3.23 release was the smoothest I've played the game in a long time, and that's with duper ships and Invictus stressing the servers. And we're already moving to the new release and everything that comes with that. To close, I implore you, dear readers: Let CIG cook.

I'm a Marxist and recently saw this quote criticizing anarchism/ the anarchist societal form of autonomous communes, curious of what you guys think about it and if you have any criticism of it. I'm not going to put it in the quote version text thingy because it's long.
From: https://www.international-communist-party.org/BasicTexts/English/57Fundam.htm
Quote:
It is a very strange fact that the libertarians, who around 1870 or so engaged in their polemics against Marx in the First International, and whose short-sightedness we have already referred to, are still widely considered to be "to the Left" of Marx. Actually, in spite of their verbal opposition to militarism and patriotism, they never grasped the importance of going beyond the purely national level when criticising bourgeois economy and studying how it spreads onto the global scale.
Marx described the formation of the international market as the ultimate and crowning historical task of the modern bourgeoisie; after that it only remained to fight to establish the proletarian dictatorship in the countries which were most advanced, and, after the destruction of the national states which arose alongside capitalism, an expansion onto an ever vaster scale of the power of the international proletarian class. The anarchist proposal, when not actually advocating unlimited autonomy for all individuals, whatever their class, was to destroy the capitalist State so as to replace it with small social units, the famous communities of producers, which after the collapse of the central government would supposedly be totally autonomous, even with respect to each other.
The rather abstract form of future society based on local "communes" doesn’t seem that different from today’s bourgeois society, and its economic procedures don’t seem that different either. Those who set out to describe this future society, such as Bakunin and Kropotkin, thought it enough merely to link it to a set of philosophical ideologisms, rather than to an analysis of historically verified laws of social production. When they did take up Marx’s critique, it was only in the most minimal and selective way since they were unable to infer the conclusions implied by the theory: they were impressed by the concept of surplus value (which is an economic theorem) but used it merely to support their moral condemnation of exploitation, which they saw as arising from human beings exerting "power" over each other. Unable to attain the theoretical level of dialectics, they were debarred from understanding, for instance, that in the transition from the appropriation of the physical product of the serf’s labour by the landowning lord to the production of surplus value in the capitalist system, an actual "liberation" from more crushing forms of servitude and oppression has taken place; for even if the division into classes, and the existence of a State power, still remained a historical necessity, and benefited the bourgeois class, in that period it also benefited the whole of the rest of society as well.
One of the principal causes of the greater output of labour as a whole, and of the higher average remuneration for the same amount of labour, was the creation of the nationwide market and the division of productive labour into different branches of industry, with the latter enabled to exchange their fully and semi‑worked products within a zone of free circulation of commodities, and increasingly impelled to extend this zone beyond the State boundaries.
This increase (fully condoning the Marxist view) in the wealth of the bourgeoisie and in the power of each of each of its states, and along with this the production of surplus-value, does not immediately mean that an absolute increase in the gross revenue extracted is at the expense of the lower classes. To a certain extent, it is still compatible with a lessening of the hours of labour and with a general improvement in the satisfaction of needs. Therefore, the idea of dismantling capitalism by breaking up the national State into little islands of power, characteristic of the pre‑bourgeois Middle Ages, makes no sense at all. It would clearly be a retrograde step to force the economy back into these limited confines, even if the sole aim were to prevent a few lazy, non‑workers from appropriating any of the resources from each of the little communes.
In this system of egalitarian communes, it is certain that the cost of the daily food supply, calculated in terms of the hours of labour of all the adult members of the community (leaving aside the niggling question of those who didn’t want to work, and who would compel them to do so!) would be more than if production was organised at the level of the nation, take modern France for instance, where there is a continuous and regular economic traffic between the different communes, and a given manufactured article is obtained from the places where it is produced with least difficulty; even if the "hundred families" still gobble everything up for free.
In fact, these various communes would have no option but to trade amongst each other on the basis of free exchange. And even if we admitted that a "universal consciousness" would suffice to peacefully regulate these relations between the different locally based economic nuclei, there would still be nothing to prevent one commune extracting surplus value from another due to a fluctuating equivalence between one commodity and another.
This imaginary system of little economic communes is nothing more than a philosophical caricature of that age‑old petty-bourgeois dream self-government. It can easily be seen that this system is just as mercantile as the one which existed in Stalin’s Russia or in the increasingly anti‑proletarian post‑Stalinist Russia, and it is equally clear that it involves a totally bourgeois system of monetary equivalents (without a State mint?!) which is bound to weigh down the average productive labourer far more than a system of national or imperialist, large‑scale industries.

First, if anyone has seen the Rising segment - you'll notice the YouTube video is heavily brigaded by hasbara trolls. There are several pro-Israel websites & apps that coordinate brigading articles, videos, social media posts, etc. that criticize Israel.
One such website is 'Iron Truth' - which in addition to spamming comments, will also spam reports to get critical content taken down.

• The Intercept did an exposé on 'Iron Truth'.

Intro

Bri is alleged to have been insensitive to the Israeli guest, the sister of a hostage. But I think it's important to actually watch the video and listen to what the Israeli guest is saying.
In an interview with Glenn Greenwald yesterday, Bri says the Israeli guest reached out to Rising on their own accord. The guest specifically requested Briahna do the interview which set off red flags. Nevertheless, Bri's producer went ahead and booked the guest. On Twitter, concern-trolls are criticizing Bri for 'rolling her eyes' - but Bri says it was moreso directed at her producer for setting the 'interview' up since it was clearly politically-motivated.
The guest ostensibly came on Rising to talk about her sister, but then she began making political statements that have long-been debunked. So Bri felt compelled to push back on the political statements. In-turn, the Israeli guest would say 'I'm not a politician' - then launch into another political statement.
The whole thing feels like a set-up.

• Bri says that for many months, the The Hill execs seemingly worked to sabotage their own show. Bri describes how there was complete staff turnover and censorship on Gaza (reducing anything Israel/Palestine to just 1 segment or bloc).
  
  • Bri's producer, Joanne Levine, would attempt to reclassify content as 'Radars' (opinion pieces) and while these segments were an avenue to talk about Gaza, The Hill insisted that mainstream critiques of Israel's atrocity propaganda be categorized as Radars as well. In effect, turning a major news story into an 'opinion piece' to distance The Hill from the findings.

This firing seems to been a long-time in the making, but Glenn points out the inherent risk in criticizing Israel in the American mainstream. That being said, Bri felt it was worth it to work at The Hill in order to platform the kind of critical analysis of Israel/Palestine that is lacking in Old Media.

• As an aside, Bri doesn't blame Robby Soave (her co-host) & implies corporate may have pushed Robby to adopt positions/push his own positions harder, even when he didn't really have his heart in it.
  
• What IS concerning though, is the coordinated fashion in which negative 'clips' about Bri proliferated online prior to her firing. She did a debate a month ago, moderated by Konstantin Kisin - and yet, the clips from the debate didn't wind up online until just before her firing. Richie Torres, AIPAC whore, also helped spread those clips & unsurprisingly was revealed to be a target of astroturfing by the Israeli government.
  
  • Glenn feels that Bri was targeted for some time by Zionist trolls and the Right - who unironically and cynically used the language of #MeToo to go after her.

The full interview with Glenn Greenwald can be watched here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDYYe-4ZojI

But anyways, back to reviewing the deranged hasbara guest's tactics:

1) Hasbara talking-points: "What would America do if [insert a nearby country] did X Y Z?"

Instead of directly answering Bri's question, the guest goes on a rant with a lot of familiar hasbara bullshit - oscillating between presenting herself as just a 'concerned sister' vs. making debunked political statements.
Well, if America was militarily occupying those countries and stealing their land, then that would change the context of any such attacks. Israel is an apartheid State that expels Palestinians from their homes and steals their land.
In Area C of the West Bank, Israel's ratio of demolishing Palestinian homes to granting building permits is 100:1.

Israeli authorities refuse the vast majority of requests by Palestinians to upgrade or build homes, schools, health clinics, wells, water cisterns, animal pens, or other structures. Between 2016 and 2018, Israeli authorities approved less than 1.5 percent of applications for Palestinians to build in Area C, 21 applications in total, while issuing 2,147 demolition orders, according to data obtained from the Israeli Civil Administration by Bimkom. 759 In other words, it issued 100 times more demolition orders than building permits in this period.

• Human Rights Watch - A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution

Israel's pervasive denial of building permits to Palestinians, not just in the West Bank but in Israel proper and East Jerusalem, is part of its overall agenda of preventing the growth of Palestinian communities.
Along with its other crimes against the Palestinian people - anyone who isn't an ethnoreligious supremacist/nutjob can see why Palestinians are upset & fighting.
Not to mention, the Israeli guest's mentality seems to be 'if Palestinians do X to us, then we're justified in doing whatever back'. Apply that in reverse as a talking-point and see where that gets you with Zionists.

2) Citing ZAKA, a discredited organization that stages crime scenes & spreads lies AND lying about having 'seen' photographic 'evidence'

The Israeli guest claims to have SEEN with her own eyeballs 'photos of rape happening'.
This is 1000% bullshit and hilariously, she cites ZAKA - an Israeli organization known for lying and staging crime scenes, whose founder was alleged to be a serial rapist (and committed sudoku to avoid prosecution).
ZAKA has been discredited thoroughly by the Israeli press for spreading atrocity propaganda, such as outright lies & staging of crime scenes:

[...] In the meantime, Zaka volunteers were there. Most of them worked at the sites of murder and destruction from morning to night. However, according to witness accounts, it becomes clear that others were engaged in other activities entirely. As part of the effort to get media exposure, Zaka spread accounts of atrocities that never happened, released sensitive and graphic photos, and acted unprofessionally on the ground.

• Haaretz - Death and Donations: Did the Israeli Volunteer Group Handling the Dead of October 7 Exploit Its Role?

Approaching the group a little more closely revealed that three of the Zaka volunteers were making video calls and videos for fundraising purposes. According to the non-Zaka observer, the body was part of a staged setting – an exhibit designed to attract donors, just when the race against time to gather and remove the bodies of victims of the massacre was most urgent.

• Haaretz - Death and Donations: Did the Israeli Volunteer Group Handling the Dead of October 7 Exploit Its Role?

ZAKA was in severe debt before Oct. 7th. One of its prominent members, Yossi Landau, head of operations for the southern region, went to a Las Vegas fundraiser and told audiences of 'beheaded babies' and pregnant women being separated from their fetuses - both widespread lies.

In the first home he and his colleagues entered "we see a pregnant lady lying on the floor, and then we turn her around and see that the stomach is cut open, wide open. The unborn baby, still connected with a umbilical cord, was stabbed with a knife. And the mother was shot in the head. And you use your imagination, trying to figure out what came first."

• i24 News - Israeli emergency responder: 'I saw 20 children shot, burned and piled together in two piles'

Everyone knows the '40 beheaded babies' propaganda is bullshit. Only 1 baby died on Oct. 7th - due to a stray bullet. Mila Cohen, aged 10 months. Haaretz has a list of all the victims by age and name.
And the Patten report specifically debunked the claim of a pregnant woman being killed and her baby being removed from her:

14) The mission team conducted a visit to kibbutz Be’eri and was able to determine that at least two allegations of sexual violence widely repeated in the media, were unfounded due to either new superseding information or inconsistency in the facts gathered. These included a highly publicized allegation of a pregnant woman whose womb had reportedly been ripped open before being killed, with her fetus stabbed while still inside her. Other allegations, including of objects intentionally inserted into female genital organs, could not be verified by the mission team due in part to limited and low-quality imagery.

• United Nations - Mission report: Official visit of the Office of the SRSG-SVC to Israel and the occupied West Bank, 29 January – 14 February 2024

But onto the specific claim of 'photographic' evidence of rape taking place.
The Patten report & the Israeli government have both said there is no video or photographic evidence of rape/sexual assault taking place.

74) In the medicolegal assessment of available photos and videos, no tangible indications of rape could be identified. Further investigation may alter this assessment in the future. Nevertheless, considering the nature of rape, which often does not result in visible injuries, this possibility cannot be ruled out based solely on the medicolegal assessment. Therefore, the mission team concluded that circumstantial indicators, like the position of the corpse and the state of clothing, should also be considered when determining the occurrence of sexual violations, in addition to witness and survivor testimony.
[...] 77) The digital evidence discovered during independent open-source review appeared authentic and unmanipulated. While the mission team reviewed extensive digital material depicting a range of egregious violations, no digital evidence specifically depicting acts of sexual violence was found in open sources.

• United Nations - Mission report: Official visit of the Office of the SRSG-SVC to Israel and the occupied West Bank, 29 January – 14 February 2024

Israel personally requested Pramila Patten to review their collection of evidence. Patten was previously known for boosting Ukraine's claims that Russian soldiers were taking Viagra to rape more. Not sure if that's ever been proven.
Haaretz in an April 2024 article reports that the Israeli government has no video & photographic evidence of sexual assault taking place:

Beyond this, from inquiries put to three bodies in the defense establishment by Haaretz, it emerges that the intelligence material collected by the police and the intelligence bodies, including footage from terrorists' body cameras, does not contain visual documentation of any acts of rape themselves. Overall, the police and the State Prosecutor's Office refuse to make public details of their investigation, which, they say, is in progress. The many obstacles in its path were present from the outset.

• Haaretz, April 2024

The Pattern report also debunks the claim that the positioning of dead bodies always implies sexual assault took place.

47) Additional challenges emerged due to erroneous interpretations of the state of bodies by some volunteer first responders without relevant qualifications and expertise. Some examples include mistaking “postmortem pugilistic posturing” (a ‘boxer-like’ body posture with flexed elbows, clenched fists, spread legs, and flexed knees) due to burn damage as indicative of sexual violence; misinterpreting anal dilatation due to postmortem changes as indicative of anal penetration; and mischaracterizing grazing gunshot wounds to genitalia as targeted genital mutilation using knives.1

• United Nations - Mission report: Official visit of the Office of the SRSG-SVC to Israel and the occupied West Bank, 29 January – 14 February 2024

3) More hasbara: crying about food & water not getting in TO THE HOSTAGES? And when Bri correctly points out that Israel (including Israeli civilians) is blocking aid, she blames Hamas.

Who is blocking aid again? Israel:

• Reuters - Israeli protesters block aid convoy headed to Gaza
  
• Oxfam International - Israel government continues to block aid response despite ICJ genocide court ruling, says Oxfam
  
• CNN - At the edge of Gaza, Israelis try to stop aid trucks
  
• The Washington Post - How Israel’s restrictions on aid put Gaza on the brink of famine
  

Etc. etc.
The Israeli guest is mouthing propaganda similar to those Israelis who block aid to starving Palestinian children.
Again, this is low-brow hasbara bullshit and would cause any sane person to roll their eyes.

4) Claims Israel has a cease-fire deal on the table and is waiting for Hamas to agree? Nope, Israel has outright refused the latest cease-fire deal just yesterday.

Israel has repeatedly said that it cares more about its military operation than returning the hostages:

• Haaretz - Analysis Israelis Want the Hostages Back. So Why Is Netanyahu's Government Ignoring Them?

Israel has hoped that Hamas would reject ceasefire deals so that it could prolong the genocide:

• Haaretz - Analysis Netanyahu Hoped Hamas Would Reject the Cease-fire Offer. When It Didn't, He Turned to Sabotage

The settlers in the Israeli government have threatened to collapse the government, thereby exposing Netanyahu, if the ceasefire deal is signed:

• BBC - Israeli ministers threaten to quit over ceasefire plan

Etc. etc.

5) Finally, after so much bullshit - the guest claims that 'if the world doesn't help Israel, there will be another 9/11' and she goes onto slander the student protest movement against her apartheid State's genocidal rampage. She specifically mentions MICHIGAN though - because Michigan -> Dearborn -> etc.?

So, at this point the Israeli guest is just being Islamophobic and making psychotic, alarmist claims.
This kind of low-information stupidity goes hand-in-hand with Zionism, so again - what should Bri have done?
The guest was a supreme idiot. A clown.
Bri rolled her eyes and got fired for politely (as much as humanly possible so long as one has an IQ above room temperature) handling a hasbara troll on her show.
But this was a long time in the making, because The Hill is simply intolerant of criticism of Israel. Briahna hit the threshold and her time was up there.

1. Device Identification Exercise:

• Provide excerpts from various texts and ask students to identify and annotate instances of specific literary devices.
  
• Discuss their findings as a class, exploring different interpretations and applications of the devices.
  

1. Creative Writing Prompts:

• Assign each student a specific literary device and ask them to craft a short story or poem that prominently features that device.
  
• Encourage creativity and exploration of the device's nuances in their narratives.
  

1. Literary Analysis Essays:

• Assign students a literary work (poem, speech, or prose) and ask them to write an essay analyzing the author's use of a chosen literary device.
  
• Emphasize the impact of the device on the overall theme and tone of the work.
  

1. Collaborative Storytelling:

• Divide the class into small groups and have each group create a collaborative story.
  
• Assign a different literary device to each group, instructing them to incorporate it seamlessly into their narrative.
  

1. Speech Writing and Delivery:

• Have students choose a social or political topic and write a persuasive speech using anaphora or epizeuxis to enhance their rhetorical impact.
  
• Organize a speech delivery session where students showcase their use of repetition for emphasis.
  

1. Literary Device Showcase:

• Assign each student or group a different literary device and ask them to prepare a presentation showcasing its historical origins, notable examples, and contemporary usage.
  
• Encourage multimedia elements such as visuals or short video clips to enhance engagement.
  

1. Rewriting Exercises:

• Provide sentences or paragraphs containing common expressions and ask students to rewrite them using more complex literary devices.
  
• Discuss the impact of the changes on tone, mood, and overall meaning.
  

1. Debate on Stylistic Choices:
   • Organize a debate where students defend or critique an author's use of a specific literary device in a given text.

• Encourage students to articulate how the device contributes to or detracts from the effectiveness of the work.

1. Literary Device Scavenger Hunt:

• Provide a list of literary devices and have students search for examples in books, articles, or online.
  
• Discuss their findings in class, exploring how different authors use the same device in diverse ways.
  

1. Themed Poetry Slam:

- Task students with creating a thematic poetry slam where each participant focuses on a different literary device. - Host a class poetry slam event where students perform their pieces and discuss their choices. 

1. Interactive Online Quizzes:

- Curate online quizzes or interactive activities that allow students to self-assess their understanding of literary devices. - Provide instant feedback to reinforce learning. 

1. Peer Review and Feedback:

- Implement peer review sessions where students exchange their creative writing assignments and provide constructive feedback on the integration of literary devices. - Encourage discussions on the effectiveness of different approaches. 

1. Literary Device Journal:

- Assign students a literary device to track in their personal reading over a set period. - Have them maintain a journal documenting instances of the device, their interpretations, and reflections on its impact. 

1. Literary Device Bingo:

- Create bingo cards with different literary devices - As students encounter instances of these devices in class readings or discussions, they mark off the corresponding squares on their bingo cards. 

1. Real-world Application Project:

- Challenge students to find examples of literary devices in advertisements, speeches, or news articles. - Present their findings, discussing how the devices are employed for persuasive or artistic purposes in the real world. 

Now, I am fully aware that this is a very touchy subject, as such as I will not make too many comments.
Conventional wisdom suggest that clothing increases the likelihood of sexual assault and this is something that activists have campaigned tirelessly to debunk, as evident here, here and here.
Given the limited research that I have done, it seems that the activists are the in the right, clothing does seem to have very little impact on the risks of sexual assault, as evident from this study on sexualisation., this study here on workplace sexual harassment/assault which did not point to clothing as a cause and finally the often cited 4.4% found in many articles advocating for this idea.
Recently however, I have also came across some studies which seems to suggest the contrary, such asthis one, which states that clothing and modern fashion may lead to greater objectification which in turn may induce sexual violence, relying heavily not on crime statistics but survey results.
In light of this, I am thus asking this Sub-Reddit to clear up this apparent conflict, in light of current findings, does clothing really affect the likelihood of sexual assault? If so, how strong is the effect and how does it affect the chances of sexual assault?

What is the Quantum Attraction Code?

What is the purpose of this Quantum Attraction Code review?

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The Quantum Attraction Code is a program designed to help individuals harness the power of quantum physics and the law of attraction to achieve personal and professional goals. This review aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Quantum Attraction Code, evaluating its content, effectiveness, scientific validity, usability, cost, and overall value. We will explore user experiences, expert opinions, and ethical considerations to offer a balanced perspective on this program.

Background

Where did the Quantum Attraction Code originate?

Who are the creators, and what inspired them?

The Quantum Attraction Code was developed by a team of experts in personal development, quantum physics, and psychology. The creators, whose backgrounds span various fields, were inspired by the potential of quantum physics principles to transform lives. They combined their knowledge to create a program that integrates scientific concepts with practical strategies for personal growth.

What is the theoretical foundation of the Quantum Attraction Code?

The Quantum Attraction Code is based on two main theoretical foundations: the basics of quantum physics and the principles of the law of attraction. Quantum physics explores the behavior of particles at the smallest scales, suggesting that our thoughts and intentions can influence reality. The law of attraction posits that positive thoughts and intentions attract positive outcomes, a concept popularized by various self-help books and programs.

Content Analysis

How is the Quantum Attraction Code structured?

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What are the components of the course layout?

The Quantum Attraction Code is structured into several modules, each focusing on different aspects of personal development and quantum principles. The course includes a mix of videos, texts, and interactive exercises designed to engage users and facilitate learning.

What key techniques and strategies are covered?

The program covers various techniques, including visualization exercises, affirmations, and mindfulness practices, aimed at helping users align their thoughts with their goals. Each module provides detailed instructions and practical applications to ensure users can integrate these strategies into their daily lives.

How can users apply the Quantum Attraction Code in real life?

What exercises and real-world applications are included?

The program includes exercises that encourage users to practice the techniques in real-life scenarios. These exercises are designed to be practical and applicable, ensuring that users can see tangible results. The program also emphasizes user engagement, with interactive elements that keep users motivated and involved.

Effectiveness

How successful is the Quantum Attraction Code?

What are the success stories and testimonials?

The Quantum Attraction Code has received numerous positive testimonials from users who have experienced significant improvements in their personal and professional lives. These success stories often highlight increased confidence, better relationships, and greater career achievements as some of the benefits.

How do the reported benefits compare with expectations?

The program's effectiveness is often measured by the reported benefits and how they align with user expectations. Many users have reported that the program exceeded their expectations, providing them with tools and insights that led to meaningful changes.

Scientific Validity

How valid are the scientific claims of the Quantum Attraction Code?

What is the examination of quantum physics claims?

The Quantum Attraction Code makes several claims based on quantum physics, suggesting that our thoughts can influence reality. While these claims are intriguing, it is essential to examine them critically. Quantum physics is a complex and often misunderstood field, and not all its principles can be directly applied to personal development.

What are the expert opinions on these claims?

Experts in quantum physics and psychology have offered mixed opinions on the program's scientific validity. While some acknowledge the potential for thoughts to influence outcomes, others caution against over-simplifying quantum principles. Academic critiques often emphasize the need for a balanced understanding of these concepts.

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Usability and Accessibility

How user-friendly is the Quantum Attraction Code?

What is the user interface and experience like?

The Quantum Attraction Code is designed to be user-friendly, with a clean interface and intuitive navigation. The course materials are easy to access, and the program includes features that enhance the user experience, such as progress tracking and interactive elements.

What are the technical requirements?

To fully utilize the Quantum Attraction Code, users need a compatible device and a reliable internet connection. The program is accessible on various devices, including computers, tablets, and smartphones, ensuring flexibility and convenience.

Cost and Value

What is the pricing structure of the Quantum Attraction Code?

How much does enrollment cost?

The Quantum Attraction Code offers several enrollment options, each with different pricing tiers. The cost varies depending on the package chosen, with options ranging from basic access to premium packages that include additional resources and personalized coaching.

Is the program worth the investment?

When evaluating the value for money, it is essential to compare the Quantum Attraction Code with similar programs. Many users have found that the benefits and insights gained from the program justify the cost, making it a worthwhile investment for personal development.

Pros and Cons

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Quantum Attraction Code?

What are the unique selling points?

The Quantum Attraction Code's strengths include its integration of quantum physics principles with practical strategies, comprehensive content, and user-friendly interface. Users appreciate the program's focus on real-world applications and its ability to produce tangible results.

What are the common criticisms?

Despite its strengths, the program has some weaknesses. Common criticisms include the complexity of the scientific concepts, which can be challenging for some users to grasp fully. Additionally, some users have expressed a desire for more personalized support and guidance.

Ethical Considerations

What are the ethical implications of the Quantum Attraction Code?

How transparent and honest are the marketing practices?

The marketing practices of the Quantum Attraction Code have generally been transparent, emphasizing the potential benefits without making unrealistic promises. However, it is essential for users to approach the program with a critical mind and realistic expectations.

What are the customer support and refund policies?

The program offers robust customer support, ensuring that users can get help when needed. The refund policies are also clear and fair, providing users with a safety net if they are not satisfied with the program.

Conclusion

What are the overall impressions and key takeaways?

The Quantum Attraction Code is a comprehensive program that offers valuable insights and practical strategies for personal development. While its scientific claims may require critical examination, the program has helped many users achieve their goals.

What is the final verdict and who might benefit most from the Quantum Attraction Code?

Overall, the Quantum Attraction Code is recommended for individuals looking to explore the intersection of quantum physics and personal development. Those open to new ideas and willing to engage with the program fully are likely to benefit the most.

Additional Resources

What further reading and references are available?

For those interested in exploring the concepts further, several books, articles, and studies on quantum attraction and personal development are recommended. Supplementary courses and materials can also provide additional insights and support.

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Appendices

What key concepts and terminologies are important?

A glossary of terms is provided to help users understand the key concepts and terminologies used in the program. This includes definitions and explanations of important ideas related to quantum physics and the law of attraction.

What are the common questions and answers?

An FAQ section addresses common questions and concerns, providing users with quick and easy access to important information. This section helps clarify any doubts and ensures users have all the necessary details to make the most of the Quantum Attraction Code.

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Dampak NFP terhadap Crypto:

• Laporan NFP yang positif, menunjukkan penciptaan lapangan kerja yang kuat, dapat menyebabkan kenaikan harga aset, termasuk crypto, karena investor lebih optimis tentang pertumbuhan ekonomi.
• Laporan NFP yang negatif, menunjukkan penciptaan lapangan kerja yang lemah atau penurunan lapangan kerja, dapat menyebabkan penurunan harga aset, termasuk crypto, karena investor khawatir tentang perlambatan ekonomi.
• Penting untuk dicatat bahwa NFP hanyalah satu titik data, dan investor harus mempertimbangkan indikator ekonomi lain serta situasi pribadi mereka sebelum membuat keputusan investasi berdasarkan NFP saja.

Berikut beberapa sumber tambahan yang dapat Anda pelajari lebih lanjut tentang NFP dan pengaruhnya terhadap crypto:

• ICDX: https://www.icdx.co.id/gofx-article/apa-itu-non-farm-payroll-nfp
• Pintu Blog: https://pintu.co.id/blog/nfp-adalah
• Finex: [URL yang tidak valid dihapus]
• DetikFinance: https://finance.detik.com/fintech/d-6610501/apa-itu-nfp-dan-bagaimana-cara-memanfaatkannya-dalam-trading

This years Nebulas are being awarded tomorrow night, so I thought I’d give my rankings of the Hugo and Nebula nominees. The Hugos are awarded on August 11th. Obligatory mention of how the Hugos appear to have been fixed last year, but that has been thoroughly discussed elsewhere, so I don’t really want to rehash it. And this year appears to be completely transparent, and I’m guessing and hoping will include efforts to prevent any similar corruption again.
For those who don’t like the Nebulas or Hugos, or don’t find them useful ways to find things you like to read, that’s certainly understandable. I’d love to hear your thoughts on any nominees you did read, or on works from 2023 that you enjoyed and feel are award worthy!
Notable things from this year: Martha Wells declined Murderbot nominations, a classy move for an already well awarded series. Lot’s of our usual nominees, while the only notable absence I caught was Seanan Mcguire’s Wayward Children novella, which is a bit of a shame as #8 is easily the best of the series, and it functions as a stand alone like all of the even numbered ones. But also, once you’re 8 books in, it does seem past due to start nominating other things. I’ll be curious to see if it was the Chinese works that edged it out.
A couple last things. Fantasy is doing their Hugo read, and it has some great commentary. u/brent_323 put out his rankings and comments on the Nebula novel nominees, and they differ from my somewhat if you want a different perspective. Lstly, I’ve added Goodreads ratings (out of 5 stars) for novels and novellas to give some context on how generally liked and how widely read each book is.

Best Novel

9: (Nebula Nominee) Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, Wole Talabi (DAW, Gollancz)
Stars: 3.70
Number of ratings: 633
Thematically, Shigidi is pretty similar to American Gods but with an emphasis on the Yoruba religion. My apologies in advance for any potential inaccuracies, my knowledge of Yoruba is based on this book, and some cursory Wikipedia reading. Different creators or gods have their own corporate structure, with minor sub-deities as employees. Olorun is the creator in Yoruba, with Orisha’s being lower level gods. One of these, Shigidi (a nightmare god in the book, although Wikipedia lists him as Guardian of Home and Environment), is trying to split from the Yoruba corporation and be an independent entity, along with his lover, the succubus Nneoma (based on Naamah, a demon from Jewish mysticism). To pay off his debt to the company, Shigidi has one last job.
It’s an interesting world, but despite the thematic American Gods comparisons, it feels nothing like that and has little else in common, and its structure ultimately makes it a much less successful book. Approximately a third of the book is the present day story, but most of that is in the second half of the book. The first half is brief tastes of the present in between longer chapters of background events. Those events are telling a single secondary story, just filling in the info you need to understand how we got to the present situation. Everytime we finally had some momentum, that thread would be done and I’d have to ‘get into’ the book all over again. If it wasn’t so broken up, I think I would have really enjoyed it, but as it is I was pretty done with the book by the time I got to where the bulk of the present day heist story was, and ended up skimming the last 50 to 100 pages.
8: (Nebula Nominee) The Terraformers, Annalee Newitz (Tor; Orbit UK)
Stars: 3.38
Number of ratings: 5,213
I loved The Future of Another Timeline, and on that alone will read any future Newitz novels, but so far nothing else of hers has come close to the same heights. The Terraformers is a set of 3 novellas set around 500 years apart, watching the terraforming of a planet over time through the eyes of the workers owned by the corporation terraforming the planet. Most of the plot is focused on terraforming, the corporation’s shenanigans, civil engineering, and civil rights, as the populace works to win the freedom to enjoy their home.
Very interesting, but it definitely drags at times. I loved the themes explored, although the civil engineering could be a bit much at times (said as a Kim Stanley Robinson fan). I did love the sentient buses, naked mole rats, and the cat reporter! Ultimately, more interesting than it was enjoyable.
7: (Hugo Nominee) Starter Villain by John Scalzi (Tor, Tor UK)
Stars: 4.18
Number of ratings: 43,367
I really enjoyed Starter Villain! There was some criticism of The Kaiju Preservation Society for being ‘light’, and that seems somewhat fair, although I likewise enjoyed it. People have leveled similar criticism at Starter Villain, but that seems less true. It’s quippy, a bit light hearted, but so are the other Scalzi books I’ve read (Redshirts, The Android’s Dream) it’s not exactly dealing with light topics despite that. It’s a critique of capitalism, and how wealth can become entrenched to both oppose what’s good for society, and oppose innovation. That said, I found the ‘villain’ idea pretty silly, as it’s essentially being used as a shorthand for disruptive technology, not for anything actually villainous or bad. I probably wouldn’t vote for it for a major award, but it was a fun and thoughtful novel.
6: (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) Witch King by Martha Wells (Tordotcom)
Stars: 3.71
Number of ratings: 16,432
While Martha Wells declined nominations for Murderbot, she did accept them for Witch King! It’s really imaginative and interesting world, and I’m hoping we get more of it (I hear she’s working on another book in the setting, so I trust we will). It has two narrative threads, the present day, where the main character Kai has been held prisoner during a pivotal political moment. The story focuses on his escape and the efforts to figure out what’s going on. The second thread tells the backstory of Kai’s life, and how the world came to the current situation.
I loved the world, and really enjoyed the book! It seems like quite a few of the people who didn’t disliked it because they thought the back story was a lot more interesting than the present day story, which I have to agree with, honestly. I wish they were told as two separate books, or in a way where splitting them contributed to the story. For example, a historian character that wheedled Kai about what has actually happened in the past could have been a vehicle for exploring the past events. Regardless of these qualms, I still enjoyed the book and look forward to more.
5: (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) Translation State by Ann Leckie (Orbit US, Orbit UK)
Stars: 4.11
Number of ratings: 9,848
Translation State is yet another book set in Leckie’s Raadchai universe. It’s not necessary to read the Ancillary books first, although I think it would help (and they’re awesome). Not sure how much Provenance relates, as I didn’t enjoy it and DNFed. Translation State is really good though, looking at the life and society of the Presger translators (as you might imagine), and giving some glimpses of what’s going on in the broader setting. I have enjoyed the books giving hints of that bigger picture, but would love one like Ancillary Justice where that’s more of a primary focus. I’d say this book is award worthy (as are all the ones I ranked higher), but I also feel like it’s linked enough to the setting that it’s fair to treat it more like a sequel, and I’m less inclined to award sequels major awards.
4: (Nebula Nominee) The Water Outlaws, S.L. Huang (Tordotcom; Solaris UK)
Stars: 3.82
Number of ratings: 2,326
The Water Outlaws is a queer, gender bent retelling of the Chinese classic Water Margin. And by classic, I mean in the sense that Don Quixote or Middlemarch is classic. It’s (probably) a 14th century novel, set around 1120 and following the rebellion of the outlaws at Mount Liang against the Northern Song dynasty. It is one of the 6 classics of pre-modern Chinese literature. At least, that’s what Wikipedia says, and it sounds like retellings and adaptations are pretty common.
I really enjoyed The Water Outlaws, and it’s the first that I would actually be happy to see win. It was fast paced and fun, but also had quite a bit of interesting insight into gender. It was also interesting to see how more Eastern values played into the story. I’m not necessarily very attuned to that, although it sounds like other readers can attest that it felt both like a Western and an Eastern novel. But I definitely noticed that the outlaws weren’t rebelling against the Emperor or the Empire really, just the corrupt people just under the top who were managing it. To me at least, it seemed to reflect the Eastern collectivism over Western individualism. S. L. Huang also has a great AMA on Fantasy from a month ago that’s worth checking out. This and the following novels are the ones I’m really hoping win.
3: (Hugo Nominee) The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager UK)
Stars: 4.28
Number of ratings: 44,645
A 12th century century Muslim lady pirate comes out of retirement for one last job. It’s fantastic! It’s also apparently set in the same world as Chakraborty’s Daevabad Trilogy, albeit some centuries earlier. I appreciated the obvious effort that went into research and world building, and writing that made it a lot of fun even when it was dealing with heavy subjects. And I loved when things finally got on the weird side, and supernatural entities took over the story. I also thought that it was pretty interesting to see how Chakraborty was able to incorporate quite a lot of diversity and modern ideals in a way that genuinely felt authentic and believable. Related, but perhaps a bit different, it was interesting to see Amina as a devout Muslim, despite not always being a great person (she is a pirate after all). So often, religion is portrayed in pretty uncompelling ways, either as bad or dumb (sometimes in ways that feel accurate and sometimes in ways that feel like caricatures), or in ways that are very pro-religion such that some big bias is showing. In Amina, it was a significant part of her life, but didn’t feel in your face. It felt lived in, if that makes sense, but well balanced with the other aspects of her life.
I’m very much looking forward to the next two books!
2: (Hugo Nominee) Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (Tordotcom, Orbit UK)
Stars: 4.06
Number of ratings: 7,957
This book appears to be pretty well regarded, but also a bit divisive. The main character, Kyr, lives on Gaia Station, the last outpost of (real) humanity in the fight with the broader galactic society of aliens and their reality warping AI, the Wisdom. Despite losing the war and most other humans moving on and integrating with galactic society, Gaia Station is still fighting. The book is ultimately an exploration of indoctrination, how your upbringing and surroundings shape your worldview, and what can later shake you into new perspectives. It reminds me of a scene from the book, Touching Spirit Bear, where a counselor demonstrates that people change from slow, steady pressure that pushes them off the course they’re on, or by a single big push that jolts them out of their path. Some Desperate Glory is several of those large pushes. In some ways, that does make it feel a little less authentic, as we don’t see Kyr really change over time, just have some pretty abrupt shifts (the first of which very much was unexpected, although the second not so much), but it also makes those changes much more accessible, since that time could be pretty hard to show. Despite that, it’s a really interesting look at indoctrination and deprogramming. As someone who grew up in and subsequently left what could be called a ‘high demand religion’, albeit one that is much, much milder than Gaia in the book or Jonestown in real life on the cult-o-meter, there’s a lot of resonance.
It seems like the main reason people didn’t like the book is that Kyr is a pretty unlikeable character. To be honest, that isn’t a thing that normally affects me, at least not for main characters. I tend to be in their headspace, as that’s what’s presented, so I’m usually not seeing them as unlikeable. Some obvious exceptions if they’re really annoying, and of course it became pretty clear over time that Kyr wasn’t exactly a considerate or kind person, but Kyr’s growth throughout the book is pretty specifically the point, so that wouldn’t really bother me either, honestly. The other issue is a scene towards the end where Kyr is touching (with consent) an alien’s feathers as a show of acceptance that he’s a person too, but some people have felt it comes off racially coded and offensive. I feel like that is pretty clearly not the author’s intent, and it’s a bit overblown, but I’m also not from a group where that would be triggering. Someone on the publishing team definitely should have seen that this would come off wrong, and changed it to something else that got the idea across in a way that wouldn’t be offensive.
I do hope that we get more of the world. It’s an interesting setting, and I would love a book exploring how the Gaians integrate into society. And also looking at Kyr’s dynamics with her group now that she has a broader perspective, and isn’t always a well meaning asshole, as we didn’t get a whole lot of that once she had grown out of it.
1: (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
Stars: 3.71
Number of ratings: 2,056
My wife bought this for me as a birthday present, thinking I’d like it based on the description. And I did! He is now on my must read list, and I’m pretty excited for Rakesfall, which comes out this month. I had never heard of The Saint of Bright Doors, or Chandrasekera, but I absolutely loved it. Then I was surprised to see people periodically mentioning it on reddit, and then I was thrilled when it was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula. This is easily the most daring and innovative book on this list, mostly because it’s pretty atypical. Honestly, the closest thing I can think of to it is Some Desperate Glory due to reality warping, but they’re mostly nothing alike. The Saint of Bright Doors follows Fetter, with a brief bit of his childhood, and then a jump to his 20’s or so. Fetter appears to be based on Rāhula, the son of Siddhārtha Gautama (the Buddha), with Rāhula meaning fetter, as he was a fetter on Gautama’s path to enlightenment. The book also appears to engage quite a bit with Sri Lankan politics, particularly surrounding Buddhism. I’m not super familiar with any of that, although some Wikipedia reading gives some clear parallels. Even without that added depth, the story was fascinating. The world is complicated and at times pretty opaque, and it has a tendency to shift and change as the story progresses. There’s a pretty deep sense of mystery with the bright doors, but they ultimately end up becoming just another part of the world for most people in the setting. Fetter ends up being part of a support group for ‘Unchosen Ones’ from different religions that, for whatever reason, were meant to be ‘Chosen’ but ultimately weren’t. Interestingly, each of the religions appears to be true. We don’t get nearly as much of the other members of the group as I would have liked, but maybe some day we’ll hear about their stories. I hope so.
The primary complaint I see is that the story meanders a lot and is quite aimless, and that’s mostly because Fetter doesn’t really act. He has little agency, and instead things just happen to him. When he does make choices, it’s pretty unclear why. That’s a pretty fair assessment, but again, not something that bothered me at all. I loved how I never knew where the book was going. I’d get comfortable with where it was at and what was happening, and then it’d shift pretty quickly. I can see why that could bother some, but it worked for me in this book, and kept me interested. The other aspect of that is how the story is told. There’s a big reveal towards the end that I won’t spoil here. We get a few hints of it along the way, some that if you catch it you definitely know something is going on, even though you don’t know what. But it goes a long way towards explaining why the story has jumps in time, why we don’t get much view into Fetter’s mind and decisions, and just how the story is told. The one downside is that the story ends a bit abruptly, and while it makes sense in context, it’s also less satisfying. But it makes me think about what I want from a story, and the place the storyteller has in it. Sometimes things being unsatisfying can stir more thought, and maybe that’s worth it. Should a storyteller always give us everything? It makes me think of a song from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The End of the Movie (some spoilers for that show). It captures some of the ambiguities in Bright Doors, but that ends up just adding to why I like it, whereas for some it definitely seemed to detract.

Best Novella

9. (Hugo Nominee) Rose/House by Arkady Martine (Subterranean)
Stars: 3.76
Number of ratings: 1,850
I really didn’t care for this story. I admittedly listened to it as an audiobook, rather than read it, and that isn’t usually as good an experience for close readings for me. Plus the only place I could find it was Hoopla, my least preferred app for audiobooks, because it’s pretty glitchy on the audio. My library has it on order, so I’ll give it another shot when I can do so in print, but all of that speaks to the larger issue that this novella was really hard to get a hold of, which is maybe not ideal if people are going to vote for it.
Anyways, on the story itself, it seemed a bit ambiguous. I couldn’t always tell what was going on, and on looking at reviews, that wasn’t just my listening experience, that was other people’s experiences as well. I didn’t feel like it added much to the AI discussion, although I did enjoy the house being convinced that a police detective was not in fact a person, but rather a police precinct. The story wasn’t all that interesting. All around, not a great read, with the above caveat on the listening experience, which is a shame since I loved the Teixcalaan books.
8. (Hugo Nominee) “Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet”, He Xi / 人生不相见, 何夕, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)(Originally published in 2010)
This was a bit of a frustrating story. Some of the setting was interesting, but the insistence on both modifying humans to adapt them to other worlds, and that those modifications can’t be too much not human, because then they’re aliens, and humans can’t cultivate alien intelligences because they may at some point turn on us. The story is a bit more complicated than that, but it has quite a few things that just don’t make a lot of sense.
7. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (Tor, Titan UK)
Stars: 4.01
Number of ratings: 25,644
I loved What Moves the Dead and Nettle and Bone! As did many others, given the nominations they received. It’s starting to look like Kingfisher might join the ranks of the usually nominated at this point. And I definitely look forward to more of her work, with What Feasts at Night one of my next several reads. That said, Thornhedge was not my favorite. I loved Toadling, pretty much everything about her and her life, and the twist on Sleeping Beauty was interesting, but the story just doesn’t shine the way the others of hers that I’ve read do.
6. (Nebula Nominee) “Linghun,” Ai Jiang (Linghun)
Stars: 4.00
Number of ratings: 1,594
A thoughtful meditation on grief, and what it looks like if we could be haunted by those we’ve lost. In some ways it feels a little unrealistic, as people are more or less fighting to the death to get access to the houses where said hauntings can actually happen, but I can see how society might not have the will to ban such obviously harmful things if they also offered the chance to see your loved one again. The one and only reason this isn’t one of my top picks is because it falls apart in the last third. There’s a second story element that is introduced early on, but doesn’t take on much prominence until towards the end, and it doesn’t really fit. It’s another character whose story is relevant, and does add nuance to the themes, but it just feels like an insertion that distracts from the rest of what’s going on in the story. Linghun would ultimately work better if that character was stripped out.
5. (Nebula Nominee) The Crane Husband, Kelly Barnhill (Tordotcom)
Stars: 3.89
Number of ratings: 6,326
This is an odd book, to say the least. It's a retelling/subversion of the Japanese folktale, The Crane Wife. The main character is a 15 year old girl telling us the story years later. The setting is a pretty normal, slightly dystopian near future, with elements of magical realism when the girl's mother brings home a crane to be her new husband, and horror as that relationship turns (more) bizarre and abusive. It’s a symbolic exploration of both abuse and generational trauma, and it’s pretty interesting, but I’m still not sure how I feel about it. It definitely feels like the most ‘out there’ of the novella nominees, but this is the first I’d be happy to see win.
4. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older (Tordotcom)
Stars: 3.64
Number of ratings: 5,689
I rather liked this story, and I'm pretty excited for when I get around to reading the sequel! While I've seen complaints about the language and style, that's a large part of what I like. More than almost any book I've read, besides ones by Gene Wolfe, every word Older uses feels specifically considered and used intentionally. And unlike in academic texts, the other main place that writing feels like this, this doesn't makes the meaning confusing or hard to sort through. Older uses complex, nuanced sentences with quite a bit of clauses and qualifiers, but it illuminates rather than obscures. It feels like the way I think (or at least the way I think I think), so I appreciate that. There's also a story and characters and such, and those are pretty nifty. One of the things I love on that front is how deftly words are used; without explicitly telling us things, the setting, characters, and world really come clear. While there is a story, the driving force really is the interactions between the two main characters, particularly as the viewpoint character deduces that thoughts and intents of the other main character through subtle signs. Anyways, more than any other element, the writing for this story really worked for me!
3. (Nebula Nominee) Untethered Sky, Fonda Lee (Tordotcom)
Stars: 3.90
Number of ratings: 8,153
Another book about birds, where the main character is a ruhker, someone who trains with rocs so they can be used to fight manticores. The book feels quiet, with the primary relationship being two humans who are both quiet introverts, and their birds who of course don’t talk. There’s action and violence and terror , but on the whole, it feels like a quiet meditation. This book is one of the reasons I’ve grown to love novellas. It could easily be a novel, but instead it just tells its story and is done. There’s a power in limiting your scope like that, a purity, and I feel like this book has that more so than any other novella on this list.
2. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
Stars: 4.25
Number of ratings: 4,478
My comment from the Fantasy Hugo discussion of Mammoths at the Gates:
Each of the 4 books to date have Chih take on a greater role in the story.
In the 1st, they mostly seem like the context of the frame narrative, and not really a main character.
In the 2nd, the framing has its own story with the tigers that's as significant as the story being told by Chih and the tigers.
In the 3rd, the story told merges with the framing story, and they become one at the end.
In the 4th (Mammoths at the Gate), the framing story is the story, dealing with the grief of Cleric Thien passing, with the other smaller stories about him within adding or illuminating but never really being separate from the framing.
It seems that over time, it's shifting from Chih and Almost Brilliant being a means of telling different stories to Chih and Almost Brilliant being the story. It makes me curious what book 5 and beyond will be, because I can only imagine one more book of following that trend before I'm out of ideas on how they could be more of the story.
At the same time, it shifts the focus from what a story is and how we tell it, how we know what the 'right' version is, and makes it more and more personal. Book 1, the historical figures had different understandings of what was happening, to the detriment of the overthrown kingdom. Book 2, Chih and the tigers had different understandings, and together told a fuller story by sharing that. Book 3, the story becomes much more complicated when you actually meet the characters. Book 4, a person you know becomes more complicated and nuanced when you learn from others their experience with the person. There's more to the story of who a person is than your personal experience of them.
All that's super interesting to me. Each of the books really does function fine as a stand alone, and I'm not sure that there's a clear overarching storyline outside of Almost Brilliant's having a kid, but there's a thematic evolution that seems to be following a specific path. I'm pretty curious to see where it's headed. (In the Fantasy Hugo read along, u/tarvolon confirmed that book 5 is thoroughly The Adventures of Chih, so I guess that trend is accurate, and u/Nineteen_Adze thought that perhaps later books could have Chih hear stories where he featured as a main character, an idea I really like).
1. (Hugo Nominee) “Seeds of Mercury”, Wang Jinkang / 水星播种, 王晋康, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)(Originally published in 2002)
This was ultimately my favorite of the stories. It’s about secretly seeding life on Mercury. Sometimes the language is clumsy, and I’m not sure if that’s the original writing or the translation, but ultimately it’s not too much of an issue. I loved the look at the alien life and their society!

Best Novelette

10. (Nebula Nominee) “Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down The Moon,” Angela Liu (Clarkesworld 6/23)
This is a weird story, and one I really didn’t care for. It deals with memory and how that shapes who we are, and quite a bit with people being used. Oh, and purpose haired girls. But if it was trying to say something in particular, I missed it.
9. (Nebula Nominee) “A Short Biography of a Conscious Chair,” Renan Bernardo (Samovar 2/23)
The story of a chair, as you might guess from the title, but just as much it’s the story of the family that owns the chair. It has an interesting family secret that’s eventually revealed and which hinges on the chair, but ultimately, this was a more interesting idea than story.
8. (Nebula Nominee) “Saturday’s Song,” Wole Talabi (Lightspeed 5/23)
This is the sequel to Wednesday’s Story. Like Talabi’s novel nominee this year, Saturday's Song features Shigidi as a nightmare god again, but also Hausa spirits. Both stories feature a frame narrative, with a story within a story similar to Vo’s Singing Hills noellas. I enjoyed it, and Saturday’s Song does tell you what you need to know from Wednesday’s Story, but it works better if you read them in order, as it functions more as a resolution than anything.
7. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) I AM AI by Ai Jiang (Shortwave)
This is a decent story, looking at capitalistic dystopias. Specifically, the pressure to be better while competing against AI, to the point where the main character is slowly morphing into a machine to catch up but in doing so loses what makes them unique and human. I don’t know that it adds a lot to the conversation exactly, but it makes some good points and summarizes some common concerns pretty well. I would have likely ranked it higher, but there were quite a bit of plausibility issues in the setting that I couldn’t really get past, and which made it much more dystopian than it would otherwise be.
6. (Hugo Nominee) “Ivy, Angelica, Bay” by C.L. Polk (Tor.com 8 December 2023)
This is a sequel to St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid. And it was pretty good! I wouldn’t say there’s anything super special about it, but I enjoyed it. The lead of the previous story has grown up and taken on her role keeping her area of the city safe through small magics, but trouble is stirring. This story onwards are ones I’d feel comfortable voting for.
5. (Hugo Nominee) “One Man’s Treasure” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, January-February 2023)
Our only Pinsker nominee this year! And while it’s pretty good, it doesn’t seem like a top contender to me. It reminds me of Wiswell's DIY from last year, thematically. It’s about several garbage collectors who remove magical items once a month, and the rich people who don’t particularly care about basic safety. Like DIY, it focuses on finding common person solutions since the rich don't care, something I can sympathize with. It’s a well told and interesting story, but that’s hardly a surprise from Pinsker.
4. (Nebula Nominee) “Six Versions of My Brother Found Under the Bridge,” Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 9-10/23)
This is a story about the bargains and sacrifices we make for grief, and how they can further harm and traumatize us. Also, it’s about how the devil exploits our grief and trauma to mess with us. It turns out when you go under the Devil’s bridge, you really ought not to make deals. This story and the following are the ones that I actually hope win.
3. (Hugo Nominee) “On the Fox Roads” by Nghi Vo (Tor.com 31 October 2023)
This story was pretty light on magical or sf elements, at least until the end, much like Vo’s other early to mid 1900s books (The Chosen and Beautiful, Siren Queen). This one is about finding yourself, and how relationships with others can help you do it. Even when those others start as complete strangers. Oh, and it’s about heists. I really enjoyed this one, and the ambiance Vo summons with her more real world settings.
2. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) “The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine, November-December 2023)
On the Fox Roads was pretty light on the magical elements, but they were there, and they were integral to the story. The Year Without Sunshine could pass as non-genre fiction just as well as it could as SF. The only element is an unspecified calamity that temporarily put a bunch of ash in to the air. THe story itself focuses on community working together when social safety nets are only semi functional, and resources become pretty scarce. I really enjoyed the the characters and how people worked together. It felt genuine and realistic, if optimistic, and seems much more helpful for real world disasters where things start to break down but aren’t post-apocalyptic. I would say it’s a very inspiring story.
1. (Hugo Nominee) “Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition”, Gu Shi /〈2181序曲〉再版导言, 顾适 translated by Emily Jin (Clarkesworld, February 2023)(Originally published in 2020)
This is science fiction is the most classic sense, and done well, in that it looks at a technology (cryosleep) and extrapolates what kind of impact it would have on society. The closest comparison I can think of to it would be Stephen Baxter and Arthur C. Clarke’s The Light of Other Days. But of course, this is completely different in that it’s written as an introduction to a fictional nonfiction book, which gives Gu Shi a lot of freedom to tell the story in a unique way, with fictional quotes with commentary from fictional people who are important to the history of cryosleep. Towards the end, it gets into the personal story behind that history, the creator of the book, and the person writing the introduction, and that allows the technical and sociology exploration to add a really touching emotional component. While I don’t agree with all of the extrapolations (hardly a surprise for a story like this), this is easily the best of the translated nominees this year, and one of my absolute favorites overall from this year.

Best Short Story:

(Hugo Nominee) 美食三品 (“Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times”), 宝树 / Baoshu (银河边缘013：黑域密室 / Galaxy’s Edge Vol. 13: Secret Room in the Black Domain)
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to read this story. It appears to have only been translated into English for the Hugo voter packet. Since I’m not actually a member of the Hugos (maybe one day, if I can attend the actual convention), I don’t have the packet.
9. (Hugo Nominee) “Answerless Journey”, Han Song / 没有答案的航程, 韩松, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)(Originally published in 1995)
Easily the worst of the translated fiction this year, or really just the worst nominee. The writing is stiff and clumsy, and it’s not just the translator as we have 2 other nominees to compare it with that were also translated by Alex Woodend. Minimal plot. The main character, who is human, is called ‘Creature’, presumably because amnesia has made him forget his name. It just doesn’t make a ton of sense all around.
8. (Hugo Nominee) “The Mausoleum’s Children” by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine, May-June 2023)
This feels like an interesting story, except I can’t really tell what's going on. The setting isn't particularly clear, despite seeming pretty interesting. The story was ok outside of that, but not amazing, and it’s hard to come back from not really getting what’s happening.
7. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) “The Sound of Children Screaming” by Rachael K. Jones (Nightmare Magazine, October 2023)
This piece has some insightful comments on gun violence, but those make up approximately 2 or 3 paragraphs. It goes from a somewhat generalized description of a shooting to a specific one to a portal fantasy to a world with evil mice. Interesting, but it doesn't make a ton of sense and doesn't really all fit together.
6. (Nebula Nominee) “Bad Doors,” John Wiswell (Uncanny 1-2/23)
I didn’t care much for Wiswell on first reading him, with The House on Haunted Hill. I mean, I liked that and thought it was a cute story, but it wasn’t something I’d vote for. But his writing has grown on me, with each year getting better and better. Bad Doors breaks that trend though. It’s not a bad story, it just wasn’t that interesting to me. Not much happens besides a family falling out over political drama, and honestly that is a bit too much like real life to be worth reading unless it’s going to give some good insight or be really good.
5. (Nebula Nominee) “Window Boy,” Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 8/23)
A strange story about the anxieties around the other, set mostly in post apocalyptic underground bunkers. It looks a lot at the relationship between the haves and the have nots, and the imbalance around friendships in that context. Are have nots always only friends to take advantage of the haves? Is that actually unreasonable if it is the case? But also maybe they have nots are actually weird 20 foot grackle bird things. The reality filters on the cameras to see outside the bunkers make it hard to tell.
4. (Hugo Nominee) “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” by P. Djèlí Clark (Uncanny Magazine, January-February 2023)
This is where I’d really start voting for the nominees. How to Raise a Kraken is a funny story about an ambitious idiot who gets a newspaper ad kraken, one that is actually real, and the fall out from doing so. It addresses colonialism and hubris in a pretty amusing and satisfying way.
3. (Nebula Nominee) “Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont,” P.A. Cornell (Fantasy 10/23)
This is a thoughtful story about time. It’s set in an apartment building with tenants from different points in time going about their normal lives. Because of that, there are lots of rules to prevent info being transmitted to the past and to stop any harm from foreknowledge. The story centers on a lady from the present in a relationship with a man from the 1940's. It’s one of the more interesting ways of playing with time that I’ve seen.
2. (Nebula Nominee) “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200,” R.S.A Garcia (Uncanny 7-8/23)
This is set in Tobago, with the local vernacular, and tells of a robotic farmhand trying to take care of an old lady's goat, and gaining further intelligence in the process. It’s a powerful, moving story. It’s occasionally a little unconvincing, in that the old lady used emojis in her youth but seems unfamiliar with what would be basic tech from her childhood, but also old people do frequently tend to struggle with technological things, so perhaps that’s unfair of me. It does a really good job looking at the social isolation of the elderly though. Tantie Merle and the following story are both the ones that I’d really hope win.
1. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld May 2023)
The second Naomi Kritzer story, this one is about an AI app that directs people on what to do to make them happy. It’s a nifty idea, well executed, and something I could actually see lots of people being interested in in real life if it worked as described. It also has well written, interesting, and relatable characters. I’ve only read the CatNet books by Kritzer, and while I liked them, it didn’t have me searching her out. After Better Living and The Year Without Sunshine though, I’ll have to check out the rest of her work.

This years Nebulas are being awarded tomorrow night, so I thought I’d give my rankings of the Hugo and Nebula nominees. The Hugos are awarded on August 11th. Obligatory mention of how the Hugos appear to have been fixed last year, but that has been thoroughly discussed elsewhere, so I don’t really want to rehash it. And this year appears to be completely transparent, and I’m guessing and hoping will include efforts to prevent any similar corruption again.
For those who don’t like the Nebulas or Hugos, or don’t find them useful ways to find things you like to read, that’s certainly understandable. I’d love to hear your thoughts on any nominees you did read, or on works from 2023 that you enjoyed and feel are award worthy!
Notable things from this year: Martha Wells declined Murderbot nominations, a classy move for an already well awarded series. Lot’s of our usual nominees, while the only notable absence I caught was Seanan Mcguire’s Wayward Children novella, which is a bit of a shame as #8 is easily the best of the series, and it functions as a stand alone like all of the even numbered ones. But also, once you’re 8 books in, it does seem past due to start nominating other things. I’ll be curious to see if it was the Chinese works that edged it out.
A couple last things. Fantasy is doing their Hugo read, and it has some great commentary. u/brent_323 put out his rankings and comments on the Nebula novel nominees, and they differ from my somewhat if you want a different perspective. Lstly, I’ve added Goodreads ratings (out of 5 stars) for novels and novellas to give some context on how generally liked and how widely read each book is.

Best Novel

9: (Nebula Nominee) Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, Wole Talabi (DAW, Gollancz)
Stars: 3.70
Number of ratings: 633
Thematically, Shigidi is pretty similar to American Gods but with an emphasis on the Yoruba religion. My apologies in advance for any potential inaccuracies, my knowledge of Yoruba is based on this book, and some cursory Wikipedia reading. Different creators or gods have their own corporate structure, with minor sub-deities as employees. Olorun is the creator in Yoruba, with Orisha’s being lower level gods. One of these, Shigidi (a nightmare god in the book, although Wikipedia lists him as Guardian of Home and Environment), is trying to split from the Yoruba corporation and be an independent entity, along with his lover, the succubus Nneoma (based on Naamah, a demon from Jewish mysticism). To pay off his debt to the company, Shigidi has one last job.
It’s an interesting world, but despite the thematic American Gods comparisons, it feels nothing like that and has little else in common, and its structure ultimately makes it a much less successful book. Approximately a third of the book is the present day story, but most of that is in the second half of the book. The first half is brief tastes of the present in between longer chapters of background events. Those events are telling a single secondary story, just filling in the info you need to understand how we got to the present situation. Everytime we finally had some momentum, that thread would be done and I’d have to ‘get into’ the book all over again. If it wasn’t so broken up, I think I would have really enjoyed it, but as it is I was pretty done with the book by the time I got to where the bulk of the present day heist story was, and ended up skimming the last 50 to 100 pages.
8: (Nebula Nominee) The Terraformers, Annalee Newitz (Tor; Orbit UK)
Stars: 3.38
Number of ratings: 5,213
I loved The Future of Another Timeline, and on that alone will read any future Newitz novels, but so far nothing else of hers has come close to the same heights. The Terraformers is a set of 3 novellas set around 500 years apart, watching the terraforming of a planet over time through the eyes of the workers owned by the corporation terraforming the planet. Most of the plot is focused on terraforming, the corporation’s shenanigans, civil engineering, and civil rights, as the populace works to win the freedom to enjoy their home.
Very interesting, but it definitely drags at times. I loved the themes explored, although the civil engineering could be a bit much at times (said as a Kim Stanley Robinson fan). I did love the sentient buses, naked mole rats, and the cat reporter! Ultimately, more interesting than it was enjoyable.
7: (Hugo Nominee) Starter Villain by John Scalzi (Tor, Tor UK)
Stars: 4.18
Number of ratings: 43,367
I really enjoyed Starter Villain! There was some criticism of The Kaiju Preservation Society for being ‘light’, and that seems somewhat fair, although I likewise enjoyed it. People have leveled similar criticism at Starter Villain, but that seems less true. It’s quippy, a bit light hearted, but so are the other Scalzi books I’ve read (Redshirts, The Android’s Dream) it’s not exactly dealing with light topics despite that. It’s a critique of capitalism, and how wealth can become entrenched to both oppose what’s good for society, and oppose innovation. That said, I found the ‘villain’ idea pretty silly, as it’s essentially being used as a shorthand for disruptive technology, not for anything actually villainous or bad. I probably wouldn’t vote for it for a major award, but it was a fun and thoughtful novel.
6: (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) Witch King by Martha Wells (Tordotcom)
Stars: 3.71
Number of ratings: 16,432
While Martha Wells declined nominations for Murderbot, she did accept them for Witch King! It’s really imaginative and interesting world, and I’m hoping we get more of it (I hear she’s working on another book in the setting, so I trust we will). It has two narrative threads, the present day, where the main character Kai has been held prisoner during a pivotal political moment. The story focuses on his escape and the efforts to figure out what’s going on. The second thread tells the backstory of Kai’s life, and how the world came to the current situation.
I loved the world, and really enjoyed the book! It seems like quite a few of the people who didn’t disliked it because they thought the back story was a lot more interesting than the present day story, which I have to agree with, honestly. I wish they were told as two separate books, or in a way where splitting them contributed to the story. For example, a historian character that wheedled Kai about what has actually happened in the past could have been a vehicle for exploring the past events. Regardless of these qualms, I still enjoyed the book and look forward to more.
5: (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) Translation State by Ann Leckie (Orbit US, Orbit UK)
Stars: 4.11
Number of ratings: 9,848
Translation State is yet another book set in Leckie’s Raadchai universe. It’s not necessary to read the Ancillary books first, although I think it would help (and they’re awesome). Not sure how much Provenance relates, as I didn’t enjoy it and DNFed. Translation State is really good though, looking at the life and society of the Presger translators (as you might imagine), and giving some glimpses of what’s going on in the broader setting. I have enjoyed the books giving hints of that bigger picture, but would love one like Ancillary Justice where that’s more of a primary focus. I’d say this book is award worthy (as are all the ones I ranked higher), but I also feel like it’s linked enough to the setting that it’s fair to treat it more like a sequel, and I’m less inclined to award sequels major awards.
4: (Nebula Nominee) The Water Outlaws, S.L. Huang (Tordotcom; Solaris UK)
Stars: 3.82
Number of ratings: 2,326
The Water Outlaws is a queer, gender bent retelling of the Chinese classic Water Margin. And by classic, I mean in the sense that Don Quixote or Middlemarch is classic. It’s (probably) a 14th century novel, set around 1120 and following the rebellion of the outlaws at Mount Liang against the Northern Song dynasty. It is one of the 6 classics of pre-modern Chinese literature. At least, that’s what Wikipedia says, and it sounds like retellings and adaptations are pretty common.
I really enjoyed The Water Outlaws, and it’s the first that I would actually be happy to see win. It was fast paced and fun, but also had quite a bit of interesting insight into gender. It was also interesting to see how more Eastern values played into the story. I’m not necessarily very attuned to that, although it sounds like other readers can attest that it felt both like a Western and an Eastern novel. But I definitely noticed that the outlaws weren’t rebelling against the Emperor or the Empire really, just the corrupt people just under the top who were managing it. To me at least, it seemed to reflect the Eastern collectivism over Western individualism. S. L. Huang also has a great AMA on Fantasy from a month ago that’s worth checking out. This and the following novels are the ones I’m really hoping win.
3: (Hugo Nominee) The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager UK)
Stars: 4.28
Number of ratings: 44,645
A 12th century century Muslim lady pirate comes out of retirement for one last job. It’s fantastic! It’s also apparently set in the same world as Chakraborty’s Daevabad Trilogy, albeit some centuries earlier. I appreciated the obvious effort that went into research and world building, and writing that made it a lot of fun even when it was dealing with heavy subjects. And I loved when things finally got on the weird side, and supernatural entities took over the story. I also thought that it was pretty interesting to see how Chakraborty was able to incorporate quite a lot of diversity and modern ideals in a way that genuinely felt authentic and believable. Related, but perhaps a bit different, it was interesting to see Amina as a devout Muslim, despite not always being a great person (she is a pirate after all). So often, religion is portrayed in pretty uncompelling ways, either as bad or dumb (sometimes in ways that feel accurate and sometimes in ways that feel like caricatures), or in ways that are very pro-religion such that some big bias is showing. In Amina, it was a significant part of her life, but didn’t feel in your face. It felt lived in, if that makes sense, but well balanced with the other aspects of her life.
I’m very much looking forward to the next two books!
2: (Hugo Nominee) Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (Tordotcom, Orbit UK)
Stars: 4.06
Number of ratings: 7,957
This book appears to be pretty well regarded, but also a bit divisive. The main character, Kyr, lives on Gaia Station, the last outpost of (real) humanity in the fight with the broader galactic society of aliens and their reality warping AI, the Wisdom. Despite losing the war and most other humans moving on and integrating with galactic society, Gaia Station is still fighting. The book is ultimately an exploration of indoctrination, how your upbringing and surroundings shape your worldview, and what can later shake you into new perspectives. It reminds me of a scene from the book, Touching Spirit Bear, where a counselor demonstrates that people change from slow, steady pressure that pushes them off the course they’re on, or by a single big push that jolts them out of their path. Some Desperate Glory is several of those large pushes. In some ways, that does make it feel a little less authentic, as we don’t see Kyr really change over time, just have some pretty abrupt shifts (the first of which very much was unexpected, although the second not so much), but it also makes those changes much more accessible, since that time could be pretty hard to show. Despite that, it’s a really interesting look at indoctrination and deprogramming. As someone who grew up in and subsequently left what could be called a ‘high demand religion’, albeit one that is much, much milder than Gaia in the book or Jonestown in real life on the cult-o-meter, there’s a lot of resonance.
It seems like the main reason people didn’t like the book is that Kyr is a pretty unlikeable character. To be honest, that isn’t a thing that normally affects me, at least not for main characters. I tend to be in their headspace, as that’s what’s presented, so I’m usually not seeing them as unlikeable. Some obvious exceptions if they’re really annoying, and of course it became pretty clear over time that Kyr wasn’t exactly a considerate or kind person, but Kyr’s growth throughout the book is pretty specifically the point, so that wouldn’t really bother me either, honestly. The other issue is a scene towards the end where Kyr is touching (with consent) an alien’s feathers as a show of acceptance that he’s a person too, but some people have felt it comes off racially coded and offensive. I feel like that is pretty clearly not the author’s intent, and it’s a bit overblown, but I’m also not from a group where that would be triggering. Someone on the publishing team definitely should have seen that this would come off wrong, and changed it to something else that got the idea across in a way that wouldn’t be offensive.
I do hope that we get more of the world. It’s an interesting setting, and I would love a book exploring how the Gaians integrate into society. And also looking at Kyr’s dynamics with her group now that she has a broader perspective, and isn’t always a well meaning asshole, as we didn’t get a whole lot of that once she had grown out of it.
1: (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
Stars: 3.71
Number of ratings: 2,056
My wife bought this for me as a birthday present, thinking I’d like it based on the description. And I did! He is now on my must read list, and I’m pretty excited for Rakesfall, which comes out this month. I had never heard of The Saint of Bright Doors, or Chandrasekera, but I absolutely loved it. Then I was surprised to see people periodically mentioning it on reddit, and then I was thrilled when it was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula. This is easily the most daring and innovative book on this list, mostly because it’s pretty atypical. Honestly, the closest thing I can think of to it is Some Desperate Glory due to reality warping, but they’re mostly nothing alike. The Saint of Bright Doors follows Fetter, with a brief bit of his childhood, and then a jump to his 20’s or so. Fetter appears to be based on Rāhula, the son of Siddhārtha Gautama (the Buddha), with Rāhula meaning fetter, as he was a fetter on Gautama’s path to enlightenment. The book also appears to engage quite a bit with Sri Lankan politics, particularly surrounding Buddhism. I’m not super familiar with any of that, although some Wikipedia reading gives some clear parallels. Even without that added depth, the story was fascinating. The world is complicated and at times pretty opaque, and it has a tendency to shift and change as the story progresses. There’s a pretty deep sense of mystery with the bright doors, but they ultimately end up becoming just another part of the world for most people in the setting. Fetter ends up being part of a support group for ‘Unchosen Ones’ from different religions that, for whatever reason, were meant to be ‘Chosen’ but ultimately weren’t. Interestingly, each of the religions appears to be true. We don’t get nearly as much of the other members of the group as I would have liked, but maybe some day we’ll hear about their stories. I hope so.
The primary complaint I see is that the story meanders a lot and is quite aimless, and that’s mostly because Fetter doesn’t really act. He has little agency, and instead things just happen to him. When he does make choices, it’s pretty unclear why. That’s a pretty fair assessment, but again, not something that bothered me at all. I loved how I never knew where the book was going. I’d get comfortable with where it was at and what was happening, and then it’d shift pretty quickly. I can see why that could bother some, but it worked for me in this book, and kept me interested. The other aspect of that is how the story is told. There’s a big reveal towards the end that I won’t spoil here. We get a few hints of it along the way, some that if you catch it you definitely know something is going on, even though you don’t know what. But it goes a long way towards explaining why the story has jumps in time, why we don’t get much view into Fetter’s mind and decisions, and just how the story is told. The one downside is that the story ends a bit abruptly, and while it makes sense in context, it’s also less satisfying. But it makes me think about what I want from a story, and the place the storyteller has in it. Sometimes things being unsatisfying can stir more thought, and maybe that’s worth it. Should a storyteller always give us everything? It makes me think of a song from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The End of the Movie (some spoilers for that show). It captures some of the ambiguities in Bright Doors, but that ends up just adding to why I like it, whereas for some it definitely seemed to detract.

Best Novella

9. (Hugo Nominee) Rose/House by Arkady Martine (Subterranean)
Stars: 3.76
Number of ratings: 1,850
I really didn’t care for this story. I admittedly listened to it as an audiobook, rather than read it, and that isn’t usually as good an experience for close readings for me. Plus the only place I could find it was Hoopla, my least preferred app for audiobooks, because it’s pretty glitchy on the audio. My library has it on order, so I’ll give it another shot when I can do so in print, but all of that speaks to the larger issue that this novella was really hard to get a hold of, which is maybe not ideal if people are going to vote for it.
Anyways, on the story itself, it seemed a bit ambiguous. I couldn’t always tell what was going on, and on looking at reviews, that wasn’t just my listening experience, that was other people’s experiences as well. I didn’t feel like it added much to the AI discussion, although I did enjoy the house being convinced that a police detective was not in fact a person, but rather a police precinct. The story wasn’t all that interesting. All around, not a great read, with the above caveat on the listening experience, which is a shame since I loved the Teixcalaan books.
8. (Hugo Nominee) “Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet”, He Xi / 人生不相见, 何夕, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)(Originally published in 2010)
This was a bit of a frustrating story. Some of the setting was interesting, but the insistence on both modifying humans to adapt them to other worlds, and that those modifications can’t be too much not human, because then they’re aliens, and humans can’t cultivate alien intelligences because they may at some point turn on us. The story is a bit more complicated than that, but it has quite a few things that just don’t make a lot of sense.
7. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (Tor, Titan UK)
Stars: 4.01
Number of ratings: 25,644
I loved What Moves the Dead and Nettle and Bone! As did many others, given the nominations they received. It’s starting to look like Kingfisher might join the ranks of the usually nominated at this point. And I definitely look forward to more of her work, with What Feasts at Night one of my next several reads. That said, Thornhedge was not my favorite. I loved Toadling, pretty much everything about her and her life, and the twist on Sleeping Beauty was interesting, but the story just doesn’t shine the way the others of hers that I’ve read do.
6. (Nebula Nominee) “Linghun,” Ai Jiang (Linghun)
Stars: 4.00
Number of ratings: 1,594
A thoughtful meditation on grief, and what it looks like if we could be haunted by those we’ve lost. In some ways it feels a little unrealistic, as people are more or less fighting to the death to get access to the houses where said hauntings can actually happen, but I can see how society might not have the will to ban such obviously harmful things if they also offered the chance to see your loved one again. The one and only reason this isn’t one of my top picks is because it falls apart in the last third. There’s a second story element that is introduced early on, but doesn’t take on much prominence until towards the end, and it doesn’t really fit. It’s another character whose story is relevant, and does add nuance to the themes, but it just feels like an insertion that distracts from the rest of what’s going on in the story. Linghun would ultimately work better if that character was stripped out.
5. (Nebula Nominee) The Crane Husband, Kelly Barnhill (Tordotcom)
Stars: 3.89
Number of ratings: 6,326
This is an odd book, to say the least. It's a retelling/subversion of the Japanese folktale, The Crane Wife. The main character is a 15 year old girl telling us the story years later. The setting is a pretty normal, slightly dystopian near future, with elements of magical realism when the girl's mother brings home a crane to be her new husband, and horror as that relationship turns (more) bizarre and abusive. It’s a symbolic exploration of both abuse and generational trauma, and it’s pretty interesting, but I’m still not sure how I feel about it. It definitely feels like the most ‘out there’ of the novella nominees, but this is the first I’d be happy to see win.
4. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older (Tordotcom)
Stars: 3.64
Number of ratings: 5,689
I rather liked this story, and I'm pretty excited for when I get around to reading the sequel! While I've seen complaints about the language and style, that's a large part of what I like. More than almost any book I've read, besides ones by Gene Wolfe, every word Older uses feels specifically considered and used intentionally. And unlike in academic texts, the other main place that writing feels like this, this doesn't makes the meaning confusing or hard to sort through. Older uses complex, nuanced sentences with quite a bit of clauses and qualifiers, but it illuminates rather than obscures. It feels like the way I think (or at least the way I think I think), so I appreciate that. There's also a story and characters and such, and those are pretty nifty. One of the things I love on that front is how deftly words are used; without explicitly telling us things, the setting, characters, and world really come clear. While there is a story, the driving force really is the interactions between the two main characters, particularly as the viewpoint character deduces that thoughts and intents of the other main character through subtle signs. Anyways, more than any other element, the writing for this story really worked for me!
3. (Nebula Nominee) Untethered Sky, Fonda Lee (Tordotcom)
Stars: 3.90
Number of ratings: 8,153
Another book about birds, where the main character is a ruhker, someone who trains with rocs so they can be used to fight manticores. The book feels quiet, with the primary relationship being two humans who are both quiet introverts, and their birds who of course don’t talk. There’s action and violence and terror , but on the whole, it feels like a quiet meditation. This book is one of the reasons I’ve grown to love novellas. It could easily be a novel, but instead it just tells its story and is done. There’s a power in limiting your scope like that, a purity, and I feel like this book has that more so than any other novella on this list.
2. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
Stars: 4.25
Number of ratings: 4,478
My comment from the Fantasy Hugo discussion of Mammoths at the Gates:
Each of the 4 books to date have Chih take on a greater role in the story.
In the 1st, they mostly seem like the context of the frame narrative, and not really a main character.
In the 2nd, the framing has its own story with the tigers that's as significant as the story being told by Chih and the tigers.
In the 3rd, the story told merges with the framing story, and they become one at the end.
In the 4th (Mammoths at the Gate), the framing story is the story, dealing with the grief of Cleric Thien passing, with the other smaller stories about him within adding or illuminating but never really being separate from the framing.
It seems that over time, it's shifting from Chih and Almost Brilliant being a means of telling different stories to Chih and Almost Brilliant being the story. It makes me curious what book 5 and beyond will be, because I can only imagine one more book of following that trend before I'm out of ideas on how they could be more of the story.
At the same time, it shifts the focus from what a story is and how we tell it, how we know what the 'right' version is, and makes it more and more personal. Book 1, the historical figures had different understandings of what was happening, to the detriment of the overthrown kingdom. Book 2, Chih and the tigers had different understandings, and together told a fuller story by sharing that. Book 3, the story becomes much more complicated when you actually meet the characters. Book 4, a person you know becomes more complicated and nuanced when you learn from others their experience with the person. There's more to the story of who a person is than your personal experience of them.
All that's super interesting to me. Each of the books really does function fine as a stand alone, and I'm not sure that there's a clear overarching storyline outside of Almost Brilliant's having a kid, but there's a thematic evolution that seems to be following a specific path. I'm pretty curious to see where it's headed. (In the Fantasy Hugo read along, u/tarvolon confirmed that book 5 is thoroughly The Adventures of Chih, so I guess that trend is accurate, and u/Nineteen_Adze thought that perhaps later books could have Chih hear stories where he featured as a main character, an idea I really like).
1. (Hugo Nominee) “Seeds of Mercury”, Wang Jinkang / 水星播种, 王晋康, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)(Originally published in 2002)
This was ultimately my favorite of the stories. It’s about secretly seeding life on Mercury. Sometimes the language is clumsy, and I’m not sure if that’s the original writing or the translation, but ultimately it’s not too much of an issue. I loved the look at the alien life and their society!

Best Novelette

10. (Nebula Nominee) “Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down The Moon,” Angela Liu (Clarkesworld 6/23)
This is a weird story, and one I really didn’t care for. It deals with memory and how that shapes who we are, and quite a bit with people being used. Oh, and purpose haired girls. But if it was trying to say something in particular, I missed it.
9. (Nebula Nominee) “A Short Biography of a Conscious Chair,” Renan Bernardo (Samovar 2/23)
The story of a chair, as you might guess from the title, but just as much it’s the story of the family that owns the chair. It has an interesting family secret that’s eventually revealed and which hinges on the chair, but ultimately, this was a more interesting idea than story.
8. (Nebula Nominee) “Saturday’s Song,” Wole Talabi (Lightspeed 5/23)
This is the sequel to Wednesday’s Story. Like Talabi’s novel nominee this year, Saturday's Song features Shigidi as a nightmare god again, but also Hausa spirits. Both stories feature a frame narrative, with a story within a story similar to Vo’s Singing Hills noellas. I enjoyed it, and Saturday’s Song does tell you what you need to know from Wednesday’s Story, but it works better if you read them in order, as it functions more as a resolution than anything.
7. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) I AM AI by Ai Jiang (Shortwave)
This is a decent story, looking at capitalistic dystopias. Specifically, the pressure to be better while competing against AI, to the point where the main character is slowly morphing into a machine to catch up but in doing so loses what makes them unique and human. I don’t know that it adds a lot to the conversation exactly, but it makes some good points and summarizes some common concerns pretty well. I would have likely ranked it higher, but there were quite a bit of plausibility issues in the setting that I couldn’t really get past, and which made it much more dystopian than it would otherwise be.
6. (Hugo Nominee) “Ivy, Angelica, Bay” by C.L. Polk (Tor.com 8 December 2023)
This is a sequel to St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid. And it was pretty good! I wouldn’t say there’s anything super special about it, but I enjoyed it. The lead of the previous story has grown up and taken on her role keeping her area of the city safe through small magics, but trouble is stirring. This story onwards are ones I’d feel comfortable voting for.
5. (Hugo Nominee) “One Man’s Treasure” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, January-February 2023)
Our only Pinsker nominee this year! And while it’s pretty good, it doesn’t seem like a top contender to me. It reminds me of Wiswell's DIY from last year, thematically. It’s about several garbage collectors who remove magical items once a month, and the rich people who don’t particularly care about basic safety. Like DIY, it focuses on finding common person solutions since the rich don't care, something I can sympathize with. It’s a well told and interesting story, but that’s hardly a surprise from Pinsker.
4. (Nebula Nominee) “Six Versions of My Brother Found Under the Bridge,” Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 9-10/23)
This is a story about the bargains and sacrifices we make for grief, and how they can further harm and traumatize us. Also, it’s about how the devil exploits our grief and trauma to mess with us. It turns out when you go under the Devil’s bridge, you really ought not to make deals. This story and the following are the ones that I actually hope win.
3. (Hugo Nominee) “On the Fox Roads” by Nghi Vo (Tor.com 31 October 2023)
This story was pretty light on magical or sf elements, at least until the end, much like Vo’s other early to mid 1900s books (The Chosen and Beautiful, Siren Queen). This one is about finding yourself, and how relationships with others can help you do it. Even when those others start as complete strangers. Oh, and it’s about heists. I really enjoyed this one, and the ambiance Vo summons with her more real world settings.
2. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) “The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine, November-December 2023)
On the Fox Roads was pretty light on the magical elements, but they were there, and they were integral to the story. The Year Without Sunshine could pass as non-genre fiction just as well as it could as SF. The only element is an unspecified calamity that temporarily put a bunch of ash in to the air. THe story itself focuses on community working together when social safety nets are only semi functional, and resources become pretty scarce. I really enjoyed the the characters and how people worked together. It felt genuine and realistic, if optimistic, and seems much more helpful for real world disasters where things start to break down but aren’t post-apocalyptic. I would say it’s a very inspiring story.
1. (Hugo Nominee) “Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition”, Gu Shi /〈2181序曲〉再版导言, 顾适 translated by Emily Jin (Clarkesworld, February 2023)(Originally published in 2020)
This is science fiction is the most classic sense, and done well, in that it looks at a technology (cryosleep) and extrapolates what kind of impact it would have on society. The closest comparison I can think of to it would be Stephen Baxter and Arthur C. Clarke’s The Light of Other Days. But of course, this is completely different in that it’s written as an introduction to a fictional nonfiction book, which gives Gu Shi a lot of freedom to tell the story in a unique way, with fictional quotes with commentary from fictional people who are important to the history of cryosleep. Towards the end, it gets into the personal story behind that history, the creator of the book, and the person writing the introduction, and that allows the technical and sociology exploration to add a really touching emotional component. While I don’t agree with all of the extrapolations (hardly a surprise for a story like this), this is easily the best of the translated nominees this year, and one of my absolute favorites overall from this year.

Best Short Story:

(Hugo Nominee) 美食三品 (“Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times”), 宝树 / Baoshu (银河边缘013：黑域密室 / Galaxy’s Edge Vol. 13: Secret Room in the Black Domain)
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to read this story. It appears to have only been translated into English for the Hugo voter packet. Since I’m not actually a member of the Hugos (maybe one day, if I can attend the actual convention), I don’t have the packet.
9. (Hugo Nominee) “Answerless Journey”, Han Song / 没有答案的航程, 韩松, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)(Originally published in 1995)
Easily the worst of the translated fiction this year, or really just the worst nominee. The writing is stiff and clumsy, and it’s not just the translator as we have 2 other nominees to compare it with that were also translated by Alex Woodend. Minimal plot. The main character, who is human, is called ‘Creature’, presumably because amnesia has made him forget his name. It just doesn’t make a ton of sense all around.
8. (Hugo Nominee) “The Mausoleum’s Children” by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine, May-June 2023)
This feels like an interesting story, except I can’t really tell what's going on. The setting isn't particularly clear, despite seeming pretty interesting. The story was ok outside of that, but not amazing, and it’s hard to come back from not really getting what’s happening.
7. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) “The Sound of Children Screaming” by Rachael K. Jones (Nightmare Magazine, October 2023)
This piece has some insightful comments on gun violence, but those make up approximately 2 or 3 paragraphs. It goes from a somewhat generalized description of a shooting to a specific one to a portal fantasy to a world with evil mice. Interesting, but it doesn't make a ton of sense and doesn't really all fit together.
6. (Nebula Nominee) “Bad Doors,” John Wiswell (Uncanny 1-2/23)
I didn’t care much for Wiswell on first reading him, with The House on Haunted Hill. I mean, I liked that and thought it was a cute story, but it wasn’t something I’d vote for. But his writing has grown on me, with each year getting better and better. Bad Doors breaks that trend though. It’s not a bad story, it just wasn’t that interesting to me. Not much happens besides a family falling out over political drama, and honestly that is a bit too much like real life to be worth reading unless it’s going to give some good insight or be really good.
5. (Nebula Nominee) “Window Boy,” Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 8/23)
A strange story about the anxieties around the other, set mostly in post apocalyptic underground bunkers. It looks a lot at the relationship between the haves and the have nots, and the imbalance around friendships in that context. Are have nots always only friends to take advantage of the haves? Is that actually unreasonable if it is the case? But also maybe they have nots are actually weird 20 foot grackle bird things. The reality filters on the cameras to see outside the bunkers make it hard to tell.
4. (Hugo Nominee) “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” by P. Djèlí Clark (Uncanny Magazine, January-February 2023)
This is where I’d really start voting for the nominees. How to Raise a Kraken is a funny story about an ambitious idiot who gets a newspaper ad kraken, one that is actually real, and the fall out from doing so. It addresses colonialism and hubris in a pretty amusing and satisfying way.
3. (Nebula Nominee) “Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont,” P.A. Cornell (Fantasy 10/23)
This is a thoughtful story about time. It’s set in an apartment building with tenants from different points in time going about their normal lives. Because of that, there are lots of rules to prevent info being transmitted to the past and to stop any harm from foreknowledge. The story centers on a lady from the present in a relationship with a man from the 1940's. It’s one of the more interesting ways of playing with time that I’ve seen.
2. (Nebula Nominee) “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200,” R.S.A Garcia (Uncanny 7-8/23)
This is set in Tobago, with the local vernacular, and tells of a robotic farmhand trying to take care of an old lady's goat, and gaining further intelligence in the process. It’s a powerful, moving story. It’s occasionally a little unconvincing, in that the old lady used emojis in her youth but seems unfamiliar with what would be basic tech from her childhood, but also old people do frequently tend to struggle with technological things, so perhaps that’s unfair of me. It does a really good job looking at the social isolation of the elderly though. Tantie Merle and the following story are both the ones that I’d really hope win.
1. (Hugo & Nebula Nominee) “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld May 2023)
The second Naomi Kritzer story, this one is about an AI app that directs people on what to do to make them happy. It’s a nifty idea, well executed, and something I could actually see lots of people being interested in in real life if it worked as described. It also has well written, interesting, and relatable characters. I’ve only read the CatNet books by Kritzer, and while I liked them, it didn’t have me searching her out. After Better Living and The Year Without Sunshine though, I’ll have to check out the rest of her work.

I'm looking for some advice, I was able to get a statistics class going for my school and I'm working on some materials for it. The subject has a LOT of article analysis and I want my students to be able to write critiques on the them. It's a regular class so I want to keep these short and straight forward, but as I taught Alg 2 and their College Prep Math class the last 2 years, I know they can really struggle with writing. I was wondering if y'all have any kind of writing resources/aids that may apply here, I may ask some English teachers as well.
My district has nothing curriculum wise so I'm stranded out here. I'd also love some insight from a statistics teacher as well!
Thanks ❤️

First, if anyone has seen the Rising segment - you'll notice the YouTube video is heavily brigaded by hasbara trolls. There are several pro-Israel websites & apps that coordinate brigading articles, videos, social media posts, etc. that criticize Israel.
One such website is 'Iron Truth' - which in addition to spamming comments, will also spam reports to get critical content taken down.

• The Intercept did an exposé on 'Iron Truth'.

Intro

Bri is alleged to have been insensitive to the Israeli guest, the sister of a hostage. But I think it's important to actually watch the video and listen to what the Israeli guest is saying.
In an interview with Glenn Greenwald yesterday, Bri says the Israeli guest reached out to Rising on their own accord. The guest specifically requested Briahna do the interview which set off red flags. Nevertheless, Bri's producer went ahead and booked the guest. On Twitter, concern-trolls are criticizing Bri for 'rolling her eyes' - but Bri says it was moreso directed at her producer for setting the 'interview' up since it was clearly politically-motivated.
The guest ostensibly came on Rising to talk about her sister, but then she began making political statements that have long-been debunked. So Bri felt compelled to push back on the political statements. In-turn, the Israeli guest would say 'I'm not a politician' - then launch into another political statement.
The whole thing feels like a set-up.

• Bri says that for many months, the The Hill execs seemingly worked to sabotage their own show. Bri describes how there was complete staff turnover and censorship on Gaza (reducing anything Israel/Palestine to just 1 segment or bloc).
  
  • Bri's producer, Joanne Levine, would attempt to reclassify content as 'Radars' (opinion pieces) and while these segments were an avenue to talk about Gaza, The Hill insisted that mainstream critiques of Israel's atrocity propaganda be categorized as Radars as well. In effect, turning a major news story into an 'opinion piece' to distance The Hill from the findings.

This firing seems to been a long-time in the making, but Glenn points out the inherent risk in criticizing Israel in the American mainstream. That being said, Bri felt it was worth it to work at The Hill in order to platform the kind of critical analysis of Israel/Palestine that is lacking in Old Media.

• As an aside, Bri doesn't blame Robby Soave (her co-host) & implies corporate may have pushed Robby to adopt positions/push his own positions harder, even when he didn't really have his heart in it.
  
• What IS concerning though, is the coordinated fashion in which negative 'clips' about Bri proliferated online prior to her firing. She did a debate a month ago, moderated by Konstantin Kisin - and yet, the clips from the debate didn't wind up online until just before her firing. Richie Torres, AIPAC whore, also helped spread those clips & unsurprisingly was revealed to be a target of astroturfing by the Israeli government.
  
  • Glenn feels that Bri was targeted for some time by Zionist trolls and the Right - who unironically and cynically used the language of #MeToo to go after her.

The full interview with Glenn Greenwald can be watched here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDYYe-4ZojI

But anyways, back to reviewing the deranged hasbara guest's tactics:

1) Hasbara talking-points: "What would America do if [insert a nearby country] did X Y Z?"

Instead of directly answering Bri's question, the guest goes on a rant with a lot of familiar hasbara bullshit - oscillating between presenting herself as just a 'concerned sister' vs. making debunked political statements.
Well, if America was militarily occupying those countries and stealing their land, then that would change the context of any such attacks. Israel is an apartheid State that expels Palestinians from their homes and steals their land.
In Area C of the West Bank, Israel's ratio of demolishing Palestinian homes to granting building permits is 100:1.

Israeli authorities refuse the vast majority of requests by Palestinians to upgrade or build homes, schools, health clinics, wells, water cisterns, animal pens, or other structures. Between 2016 and 2018, Israeli authorities approved less than 1.5 percent of applications for Palestinians to build in Area C, 21 applications in total, while issuing 2,147 demolition orders, according to data obtained from the Israeli Civil Administration by Bimkom. 759 In other words, it issued 100 times more demolition orders than building permits in this period.

• Human Rights Watch - A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution

Israel's pervasive denial of building permits to Palestinians, not just in the West Bank but in Israel proper and East Jerusalem, is part of its overall agenda of preventing the growth of Palestinian communities.
Along with its other crimes against the Palestinian people - anyone who isn't an ethnoreligious supremacist/nutjob can see why Palestinians are upset & fighting.
Not to mention, the Israeli guest's mentality seems to be 'if Palestinians do X to us, then we're justified in doing whatever back'. Apply that in reverse as a talking-point and see where that gets you with Zionists.

2) Citing ZAKA, a discredited organization that stages crime scenes & spreads lies AND lying about having 'seen' photographic 'evidence'

The Israeli guest claims to have SEEN with her own eyeballs 'photos of rape happening'.
This is 1000% bullshit and hilariously, she cites ZAKA - an Israeli organization known for lying and staging crime scenes, whose founder was alleged to be a serial rapist (and committed sudoku to avoid prosecution).
ZAKA has been discredited thoroughly by the Israeli press for spreading atrocity propaganda, such as outright lies & staging of crime scenes:

[...] In the meantime, Zaka volunteers were there. Most of them worked at the sites of murder and destruction from morning to night. However, according to witness accounts, it becomes clear that others were engaged in other activities entirely. As part of the effort to get media exposure, Zaka spread accounts of atrocities that never happened, released sensitive and graphic photos, and acted unprofessionally on the ground.

• Haaretz - Death and Donations: Did the Israeli Volunteer Group Handling the Dead of October 7 Exploit Its Role?

Approaching the group a little more closely revealed that three of the Zaka volunteers were making video calls and videos for fundraising purposes. According to the non-Zaka observer, the body was part of a staged setting – an exhibit designed to attract donors, just when the race against time to gather and remove the bodies of victims of the massacre was most urgent.

• Haaretz - Death and Donations: Did the Israeli Volunteer Group Handling the Dead of October 7 Exploit Its Role?

ZAKA was in severe debt before Oct. 7th. One of its prominent members, Yossi Landau, head of operations for the southern region, went to a Las Vegas fundraiser and told audiences of 'beheaded babies' and pregnant women being separated from their fetuses - both widespread lies.

In the first home he and his colleagues entered "we see a pregnant lady lying on the floor, and then we turn her around and see that the stomach is cut open, wide open. The unborn baby, still connected with a umbilical cord, was stabbed with a knife. And the mother was shot in the head. And you use your imagination, trying to figure out what came first."

• i24 News - Israeli emergency responder: 'I saw 20 children shot, burned and piled together in two piles'

Everyone knows the '40 beheaded babies' propaganda is bullshit. Only 1 baby died on Oct. 7th - due to a stray bullet. Mila Cohen, aged 10 months. Haaretz has a list of all the victims by age and name.
And the Patten report specifically debunked the claim of a pregnant woman being killed and her baby being removed from her:

14) The mission team conducted a visit to kibbutz Be’eri and was able to determine that at least two allegations of sexual violence widely repeated in the media, were unfounded due to either new superseding information or inconsistency in the facts gathered. These included a highly publicized allegation of a pregnant woman whose womb had reportedly been ripped open before being killed, with her fetus stabbed while still inside her. Other allegations, including of objects intentionally inserted into female genital organs, could not be verified by the mission team due in part to limited and low-quality imagery.

• United Nations - Mission report: Official visit of the Office of the SRSG-SVC to Israel and the occupied West Bank, 29 January – 14 February 2024

But onto the specific claim of 'photographic' evidence of rape taking place.
The Patten report & the Israeli government have both said there is no video or photographic evidence of rape/sexual assault taking place.

74) In the medicolegal assessment of available photos and videos, no tangible indications of rape could be identified. Further investigation may alter this assessment in the future. Nevertheless, considering the nature of rape, which often does not result in visible injuries, this possibility cannot be ruled out based solely on the medicolegal assessment. Therefore, the mission team concluded that circumstantial indicators, like the position of the corpse and the state of clothing, should also be considered when determining the occurrence of sexual violations, in addition to witness and survivor testimony.
[...] 77) The digital evidence discovered during independent open-source review appeared authentic and unmanipulated. While the mission team reviewed extensive digital material depicting a range of egregious violations, no digital evidence specifically depicting acts of sexual violence was found in open sources.

• United Nations - Mission report: Official visit of the Office of the SRSG-SVC to Israel and the occupied West Bank, 29 January – 14 February 2024

Israel personally requested Pramila Patten to review their collection of evidence. Patten was previously known for boosting Ukraine's claims that Russian soldiers were taking Viagra to rape more. Not sure if that's ever been proven.
Haaretz in an April 2024 article reports that the Israeli government has no video & photographic evidence of sexual assault taking place:

Beyond this, from inquiries put to three bodies in the defense establishment by Haaretz, it emerges that the intelligence material collected by the police and the intelligence bodies, including footage from terrorists' body cameras, does not contain visual documentation of any acts of rape themselves. Overall, the police and the State Prosecutor's Office refuse to make public details of their investigation, which, they say, is in progress. The many obstacles in its path were present from the outset.

• Haaretz, April 2024

The Pattern report also debunks the claim that the positioning of dead bodies always implies sexual assault took place.

47) Additional challenges emerged due to erroneous interpretations of the state of bodies by some volunteer first responders without relevant qualifications and expertise. Some examples include mistaking “postmortem pugilistic posturing” (a ‘boxer-like’ body posture with flexed elbows, clenched fists, spread legs, and flexed knees) due to burn damage as indicative of sexual violence; misinterpreting anal dilatation due to postmortem changes as indicative of anal penetration; and mischaracterizing grazing gunshot wounds to genitalia as targeted genital mutilation using knives.1

• United Nations - Mission report: Official visit of the Office of the SRSG-SVC to Israel and the occupied West Bank, 29 January – 14 February 2024

3) More hasbara: crying about food & water not getting in TO THE HOSTAGES? And when Bri correctly points out that Israel (including Israeli civilians) is blocking aid, she blames Hamas.

Who is blocking aid again? Israel:

• Reuters - Israeli protesters block aid convoy headed to Gaza
  
• Oxfam International - Israel government continues to block aid response despite ICJ genocide court ruling, says Oxfam
  
• CNN - At the edge of Gaza, Israelis try to stop aid trucks
  
• The Washington Post - How Israel’s restrictions on aid put Gaza on the brink of famine
  

Etc. etc.
The Israeli guest is mouthing propaganda similar to those Israelis who block aid to starving Palestinian children.
Again, this is low-brow hasbara bullshit and would cause any sane person to roll their eyes.

4) Claims Israel has a cease-fire deal on the table and is waiting for Hamas to agree? Nope, Israel has outright refused the latest cease-fire deal just yesterday.

Israel has repeatedly said that it cares more about its military operation than returning the hostages:

• Haaretz - Analysis Israelis Want the Hostages Back. So Why Is Netanyahu's Government Ignoring Them?

Israel has hoped that Hamas would reject ceasefire deals so that it could prolong the genocide:

• Haaretz - Analysis Netanyahu Hoped Hamas Would Reject the Cease-fire Offer. When It Didn't, He Turned to Sabotage

The settlers in the Israeli government have threatened to collapse the government, thereby exposing Netanyahu, if the ceasefire deal is signed:

• BBC - Israeli ministers threaten to quit over ceasefire plan

Etc. etc.

5) Finally, after so much bullshit - the guest claims that 'if the world doesn't help Israel, there will be another 9/11' and she goes onto slander the student protest movement against her apartheid State's genocidal rampage. She specifically mentions MICHIGAN though - because Michigan -> Dearborn -> etc.?

So, at this point the Israeli guest is just being Islamophobic and making psychotic, alarmist claims.
This kind of low-information trolling goes hand-in-hand with Zionism, so again - what should Bri have done?
The guest was a supreme clown.
Bri rolled her eyes and got fired for politely (as much as is humanly possible) handling a hasbara troll on her show.
But this was a long time in the making, because The Hill is simply intolerant of criticism of Israel. Briahna hit the threshold and her time was up there.

First, if anyone has seen the Rising segment - you'll notice the YouTube video is heavily brigaded by hasbara trolls. There are several pro-Israel websites & apps that coordinate brigading articles, videos, social media posts, etc. that criticize Israel.
One such website is 'Iron Truth' - which in addition to spamming comments, will also spam reports to get critical content taken down.

• The Intercept did an exposé on 'Iron Truth'.

Intro

Bri is alleged to have been insensitive to the Israeli guest, the sister of a hostage. But I think it's important to actually watch the video and listen to what the Israeli guest is saying.
In an interview with Glenn Greenwald yesterday, Bri says the Israeli guest reached out to Rising on their own accord. The guest specifically requested Briahna do the interview which set off red flags. Nevertheless, Bri's producer went ahead and booked the guest. On Twitter, concern-trolls are criticizing Bri for 'rolling her eyes' - but Bri says it was moreso directed at her producer for setting the 'interview' up since it was clearly politically-motivated.
The guest ostensibly came on Rising to talk about her sister, but then she began making political statements that have long-been debunked. So Bri felt compelled to push back on the political statements. In-turn, the Israeli guest would say 'I'm not a politician' - then launch into another political statement.
The whole thing feels like a set-up.

• Bri says that for many months, the The Hill execs seemingly worked to sabotage their own show. Bri describes how there was complete staff turnover and censorship on Gaza (reducing anything Israel/Palestine to just 1 segment or bloc).
  
  • Bri's producer, Joanne Levine, would attempt to reclassify content as 'Radars' (opinion pieces) and while these segments were an avenue to talk about Gaza, The Hill insisted that mainstream critiques of Israel's atrocity propaganda be categorized as Radars as well. In effect, turning a major news story into an 'opinion piece' to distance The Hill from the findings.

This firing seems to been a long-time in the making, but Glenn points out the inherent risk in criticizing Israel in the American mainstream. That being said, Bri felt it was worth it to work at The Hill in order to platform the kind of critical analysis of Israel/Palestine that is lacking in Old Media.

• As an aside, Bri doesn't blame Robby Soave (her co-host) & implies corporate may have pushed Robby to adopt positions/push his own positions harder, even when he didn't really have his heart in it.
  
• What IS concerning though, is the coordinated fashion in which negative 'clips' about Bri proliferated online prior to her firing. She did a debate a month ago, moderated by Konstantin Kisin - and yet, the clips from the debate didn't wind up online until just before her firing. Richie Torres, AIPAC whore, also helped spread those clips & unsurprisingly was revealed to be a target of astroturfing by the Israeli government.
  
  • Glenn feels that Bri was targeted for some time by Zionist trolls and the Right - who unironically and cynically used the language of #MeToo to go after her.

The full interview with Glenn Greenwald can be watched here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDYYe-4ZojI

But anyways, back to reviewing the deranged hasbara guest's tactics:

1) Hasbara talking-points: "What would America do if [insert a nearby country] did X Y Z?"

Instead of directly answering Bri's question, the guest goes on a rant with a lot of familiar hasbara bullshit - oscillating between presenting herself as just a 'concerned sister' vs. making debunked political statements.
Well, if America was militarily occupying those countries and stealing their land, then that would change the context of any such attacks. Israel is an apartheid State that expels Palestinians from their homes and steals their land.
In Area C of the West Bank, Israel's ratio of demolishing Palestinian homes to granting building permits is 100:1.

Israeli authorities refuse the vast majority of requests by Palestinians to upgrade or build homes, schools, health clinics, wells, water cisterns, animal pens, or other structures. Between 2016 and 2018, Israeli authorities approved less than 1.5 percent of applications for Palestinians to build in Area C, 21 applications in total, while issuing 2,147 demolition orders, according to data obtained from the Israeli Civil Administration by Bimkom. 759 In other words, it issued 100 times more demolition orders than building permits in this period.

• Human Rights Watch - A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution

Israel's pervasive denial of building permits to Palestinians, not just in the West Bank but in Israel proper and East Jerusalem, is part of its overall agenda of preventing the growth of Palestinian communities.
Along with its other crimes against the Palestinian people - anyone who isn't an ethnoreligious supremacist/nutjob can see why Palestinians are upset & fighting.
Not to mention, the Israeli guest's mentality seems to be 'if Palestinians do X to us, then we're justified in doing whatever back'. Apply that in reverse as a talking-point and see where that gets you with Zionists.

2) Citing ZAKA, a discredited organization that stages crime scenes & spreads lies AND lying about having 'seen' photographic 'evidence'

The Israeli guest claims to have SEEN with her own eyeballs 'photos of rape happening'.
This is 1000% bullshit and hilariously, she cites ZAKA - an Israeli organization known for lying and staging crime scenes, whose founder was alleged to be a serial rapist (and committed sudoku to avoid prosecution).
ZAKA has been discredited thoroughly by the Israeli press for spreading atrocity propaganda, such as outright lies & staging of crime scenes:

[...] In the meantime, Zaka volunteers were there. Most of them worked at the sites of murder and destruction from morning to night. However, according to witness accounts, it becomes clear that others were engaged in other activities entirely. As part of the effort to get media exposure, Zaka spread accounts of atrocities that never happened, released sensitive and graphic photos, and acted unprofessionally on the ground.

• Haaretz - Death and Donations: Did the Israeli Volunteer Group Handling the Dead of October 7 Exploit Its Role?

Approaching the group a little more closely revealed that three of the Zaka volunteers were making video calls and videos for fundraising purposes. According to the non-Zaka observer, the body was part of a staged setting – an exhibit designed to attract donors, just when the race against time to gather and remove the bodies of victims of the massacre was most urgent.

• Haaretz - Death and Donations: Did the Israeli Volunteer Group Handling the Dead of October 7 Exploit Its Role?

ZAKA was in severe debt before Oct. 7th. One of its prominent members, Yossi Landau, head of operations for the southern region, went to a Las Vegas fundraiser and told audiences of 'beheaded babies' and pregnant women being separated from their fetuses - both widespread lies.

In the first home he and his colleagues entered "we see a pregnant lady lying on the floor, and then we turn her around and see that the stomach is cut open, wide open. The unborn baby, still connected with a umbilical cord, was stabbed with a knife. And the mother was shot in the head. And you use your imagination, trying to figure out what came first."

• i24 News - Israeli emergency responder: 'I saw 20 children shot, burned and piled together in two piles'

Everyone knows the '40 beheaded babies' propaganda is bullshit. Only 1 baby died on Oct. 7th - due to a stray bullet. Mila Cohen, aged 10 months. Haaretz has a list of all the victims by age and name.
And the Patten report specifically debunked the claim of a pregnant woman being killed and her baby being removed from her:

14) The mission team conducted a visit to kibbutz Be’eri and was able to determine that at least two allegations of sexual violence widely repeated in the media, were unfounded due to either new superseding information or inconsistency in the facts gathered. These included a highly publicized allegation of a pregnant woman whose womb had reportedly been ripped open before being killed, with her fetus stabbed while still inside her. Other allegations, including of objects intentionally inserted into female genital organs, could not be verified by the mission team due in part to limited and low-quality imagery.

• United Nations - Mission report: Official visit of the Office of the SRSG-SVC to Israel and the occupied West Bank, 29 January – 14 February 2024

But onto the specific claim of 'photographic' evidence of rape taking place.
The Patten report & the Israeli government have both said there is no video or photographic evidence of rape/sexual assault taking place.

74) In the medicolegal assessment of available photos and videos, no tangible indications of rape could be identified. Further investigation may alter this assessment in the future. Nevertheless, considering the nature of rape, which often does not result in visible injuries, this possibility cannot be ruled out based solely on the medicolegal assessment. Therefore, the mission team concluded that circumstantial indicators, like the position of the corpse and the state of clothing, should also be considered when determining the occurrence of sexual violations, in addition to witness and survivor testimony.
[...] 77) The digital evidence discovered during independent open-source review appeared authentic and unmanipulated. While the mission team reviewed extensive digital material depicting a range of egregious violations, no digital evidence specifically depicting acts of sexual violence was found in open sources.

• United Nations - Mission report: Official visit of the Office of the SRSG-SVC to Israel and the occupied West Bank, 29 January – 14 February 2024

Israel personally requested Pramila Patten to review their collection of evidence. Patten was previously known for boosting Ukraine's claims that Russian soldiers were taking Viagra to rape more. Not sure if that's ever been proven.
Haaretz in an April 2024 article reports that the Israeli government has no video & photographic evidence of sexual assault taking place:

Beyond this, from inquiries put to three bodies in the defense establishment by Haaretz, it emerges that the intelligence material collected by the police and the intelligence bodies, including footage from terrorists' body cameras, does not contain visual documentation of any acts of rape themselves. Overall, the police and the State Prosecutor's Office refuse to make public details of their investigation, which, they say, is in progress. The many obstacles in its path were present from the outset.

• Haaretz, April 2024

The Pattern report also debunks the claim that the positioning of dead bodies always implies sexual assault took place.

47) Additional challenges emerged due to erroneous interpretations of the state of bodies by some volunteer first responders without relevant qualifications and expertise. Some examples include mistaking “postmortem pugilistic posturing” (a ‘boxer-like’ body posture with flexed elbows, clenched fists, spread legs, and flexed knees) due to burn damage as indicative of sexual violence; misinterpreting anal dilatation due to postmortem changes as indicative of anal penetration; and mischaracterizing grazing gunshot wounds to genitalia as targeted genital mutilation using knives.1

• United Nations - Mission report: Official visit of the Office of the SRSG-SVC to Israel and the occupied West Bank, 29 January – 14 February 2024

3) More hasbara: crying about food & water not getting in TO THE HOSTAGES? And when Bri correctly points out that Israel (including Israeli civilians) is blocking aid, she blames Hamas.

Who is blocking aid again? Israel:

• Reuters - Israeli protesters block aid convoy headed to Gaza
  
• Oxfam International - Israel government continues to block aid response despite ICJ genocide court ruling, says Oxfam
  
• CNN - At the edge of Gaza, Israelis try to stop aid trucks
  
• The Washington Post - How Israel’s restrictions on aid put Gaza on the brink of famine
  

Etc. etc.
The Israeli guest is mouthing propaganda similar to those Israelis who block aid to starving Palestinian children.
Again, this is low-brow hasbara bullshit and would cause any sane person to roll their eyes.

4) Claims Israel has a cease-fire deal on the table and is waiting for Hamas to agree? Nope, Israel has outright refused the latest cease-fire deal just yesterday.

Israel has repeatedly said that it cares more about its military operation than returning the hostages:

• Haaretz - Analysis Israelis Want the Hostages Back. So Why Is Netanyahu's Government Ignoring Them?

Israel has hoped that Hamas would reject ceasefire deals so that it could prolong the genocide:

• Haaretz - Analysis Netanyahu Hoped Hamas Would Reject the Cease-fire Offer. When It Didn't, He Turned to Sabotage

The settlers in the Israeli government have threatened to collapse the government, thereby exposing Netanyahu, if the ceasefire deal is signed:

• BBC - Israeli ministers threaten to quit over ceasefire plan

Etc. etc.

5) Finally, after so much bullshit - the guest claims that 'if the world doesn't help Israel, there will be another 9/11' and she goes onto slander the student protest movement against her apartheid State's genocidal rampage. She specifically mentions MICHIGAN though - because Michigan -> Dearborn -> etc.?

So, at this point the Israeli guest is just being Islamophobic and making psychotic, alarmist claims.
This kind of low-information trolling goes hand-in-hand with Zionism, so again - what should Bri have done?
The guest was a supreme clown.
Bri rolled her eyes and got fired for politely (as much as is humanly possible) handling a hasbara troll on her show.
But this was a long time in the making, because The Hill is simply intolerant of criticism of Israel. Briahna hit the threshold and her time was up there.