Thoughts

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East of Eden, and book rating scales

Every so often I read a book that's so good it makes me feel like I need to recalibrate my book ratings scale. How can it be a "five star" book when it's so much better than other "five star" books I've read?

But I've always found the ubiquitous star rating scales poorly suited to my mental model of cataloguing books, which vary so widely they could never be boiled down to a plain numeric scale. Do the stars represent how much I enjoyed a book? The depth of feelings it made me feel? The quality of the prose? The ease with which I find myself turning to the next page?

I've deeply enjoyed many a book with terrible writing and clichéd plots; is that a five star book? How do I rate a book with beautiful prose and intricate plotlines, that nonetheless causes me to dread picking it back up?

And what is a "one star" book? If a book is truly unenjoyable, I likely won't finish it at all — and thus won't rate it, as it feels unfair to cast judgment on a book I've only partially read. Is "one star" a book I liked enough to finish, but just barely?

Anyway, this is all to say you should read East of Eden, which topped the charts in just about every category, whether it was the prose, enjoyment, or deepness of feelings I felt afterwards.

Quote from man sued: "What are you gonna do, sue me?"

Kevin O'Leary has sued crypto personality Ben Armstrong (aka "BitBoy Crypto") for repeatedly claiming O'Leary murdered two people.

27. On March 19, 2025, Armstrong unleashed another tweet accusing O’Leary of committing “actual crimes”: “Doesn’t everybody think it’s weird that I’ve been publicly calling … @kevinolearytv [a] murderer[] and yet not a single word or legal action? It’s almost like they ‘can’t’ because a lawsuit would open up their actual crimes and they know it.”

(O'Leary and his wife were indeed involved in a boating collision that killed two people in 2019; O'Leary states in the lawsuit that it was his wife driving the boat, and she was acquitted of any charges.)

BitBoy also suggested that O'Leary was trying to have him killed, and claimed he'd swatted him. Shortly after, he posted O'Leary's cell phone number and encouraged his followers to "call a real life murderer"

Armstong launched his defamatory campaign on March 17, 2025. On that day, he posted the following: “You guys think I’m kidding about all this stuff and all these claims. There is a reason my life is actually in danger. Kevin O’Leary has already verifiably murdered one couple in Toronto.” Over 30,000 people viewed this tweet. Tweet screenshot: The BitBoy @BenArmstrongsX You guys think I'm kidding about all this stuff and all these claims. There is a reason my life is actually in danger. Kevin O'Leary has already verifiably murdered one couple in Toronto. You don't think Mr One-To-2-Inch would try to kill the old BitBoy? He SWATTED me once
Tweet screenshot: The BitBoy @BenArmstrongsX Hey @kevinolearytv, what the fuck are you going to do with me? You can't sue me. You can't stop me. You can't shut me up. I'm a rabid dog with my teeth sunk deep into your leg. Your usual tricks don't work. Going to be hard to put the rabid dog down with everyone watching.

Amusingly, BitBoy once tried to file a defamation lawsuit of his own against a YouTuber who called him a "shady dirtbag". He dropped the suit almost immediately after the YouTuber raised over $200,000 for his defense, and Armstrong admitted he didn't know lawsuits were public.

It's not clear that BitBoy even knows he's been sued yet; he was arrested two days ago after sending threatening emails to the judge in a different defamation case he's facing from his former business partners after he publicly accused them of various crimes.