Free Republic

Gen Z thinks they’ve figured out a dead giveaway that someone has used ChatGPT — and it might surprise you. The em dash (—) is punctuation loved by writers everywhere, functioning like a comma, colon or a pair of parentheses. It can be used to sum up information at the end of a sentence, encase supplementary information within a sentence, emphasize a point or expand upon something that comes before it, according to Merriam-Webster. But according to Gen Z, the dash is actually a so-called “ChatGPT hyphen.” The phenomenon started gaining attention online after podcasters Daisy Reed and Sapna Rao,...

HENCHMAN a short story by Piytar McPherson I am a “henchman.” Someone who gets hired to provide protection when much more powerful people are doing something significant. You’ve all seen the movies. Us henchmen get killed off all the time and nobody really notices let alone cares. We are those people who just get blown away. Now this job: It’s stereotypical. We have the Hero – typical over-large muscle type. The mage – all white hair and radiating power. The Princess – looks frails but tough as nails. Then a few of us henchmen – cannon fodder. Do have a...

From March 26th to March 31st, over 100 crime writers are participating in an auction to support the Transgender Law CenterThese are dire times. Human rights, and especially the rights of trans folks, are under attack. And thankfully, some of the crime fiction community has come together to fight back. For the next week, leading up to the March 31st Day of Trans Visibility, over 100 crime writers are participating in an auction benefitting the Transgender Law Center, including such folks as Roxane Gay, David Baldacci, Gillian Flynn, Louise Penny, and many more. According to the fundraiser’s press release, “this...

Archaeological research carried out at the La Peña del Castro site, located in the municipality of La Ercina, in the province of León (Spain)... Researchers from the University of León have identified an inscription belonging to the Celtiberian alphabet, engraved on a small object linked to the textile activities of the settlement. This object is a spindle whorl, a counterweight used in spinning spindles, dating back to the 1st century BC.This finding is significant because it represents one of the earliest examples of alphabetic writing documented in the province of León and in the northern Iberian Peninsula. One of the...

According to a statement released by the University of Central Florida, excavations at the Mesopotamian site of Kurd Qaburstan in northeastern Iraq have uncovered cuneiform tablets, a game board, and traces of a large structure dated to about 1800 B.C. Tiffany Earley-Spadoni of the University of Central Florida said that these are the first cuneiform tablets from the period to be uncovered in the region. “We hope to find even more historical records that will help us tell the story of [the city] from the perspective of its own people rather than relying only on accounts written by their enemies,'...

A New Jersey law that removes a requirement for teachers to pass a reading, writing and mathematics test for certification will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. The law, Act 1669, was passed by Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy as part of the state’s 2025 budget in June in an effort to address a shortage of teachers in the state... Individuals seeking an instructional certificate will no longer need to pass a “basic skills” test ... Just months earlier, Murphy signed a similar bill into law that created an alternative pathway for teachers to sidestep the testing requirement....

Much like eating a pint of ice cream while watching guilty-pleasure television, using adverbs, tempting as it may be, is best done sparingly. Just ask author Stephen King, who declared, “The road to hell is paved with adverbs,” in the writing guide/memoir On Writing. Where did King get the idea that adverbs are such a negative part of speech? And despite his feelings on the topic, isn’t it possible to use them in a manner that adds color and intrigue? Let’s examine why King might have his curious opinion and how adverbs are used — for better or worse. Adverbs...

For decades, it's been a common belief that the Ancient Egyptians were responsible for the very first alphabet. Now, a shocking finding challenges this assumption, pushing back the age of the first known alphabetic writing by about 500 years. ... The finger-length cylinders were found at Tell Umm-el Marra, a former city located in today's northwestern Syria, once a bustling crossroads for two trade routes. Carbon dating techniques reveal that the objects date back 4,400 years to 2400 BC – preceding any other known alphabetic scripts by roughly 500 years. ... However, the academic admits he 'can only speculate' exactly...

After more than ten years of trying to write a memoir and all the craziness that's happened in my life (manic depression, swindling operation, running for office, almost flying off with a hundred grand of George Lucas's money among MANY other episodes), that a lot of people have asked me to produce, I can report that as of this afternoon the draft of the manuscript of my first book is finished!Some parts have been written over the years but it wasn't until three months ago that I truly devoted myself to the project.Thought I ought to post about it because...

I've returned to writing my novel, tentatively titled "Dimensions of Essence". I've gotten somewhat deep into the first act, and I find that my word count is surprisingly low. I tend to be extremely concise. I need to do the opposite of what many authors do... instead of ruthless editing, I need to be more wordy. I asked ChatGPT what the size of the typical sci-fi novel is, and it replied: Science fiction novels typically range between 90,000 and 120,000 words. This length allows for the extensive world-building and complex narratives characteristic of the genre. However, some sci-fi novels can...

Illiteracy is a serious and growing problem in the United States: 21% of adults were illiterate in 2022, and 54% of adults have a literacy below sixth-grade level. Illiteracy traps people (and nations) in poverty. This, despite the fact that the United States spends more money on primary and secondary education than any other industrial nation. One of the main reasons our literacy skills are so abysmal is the rejection of traditional phonics-based pedagogy in favor of trendier, "ground-breaking" or "leading edge" methodologies pushed by prominent schools of education at prestigious universities. Educational fads pushed by highly credentialed advocates and...

A wooden tablet discovered on Easter Island may pre-date European colonization of the region, researchers revealed in early February. Less than 30 wooden tablets containing an undeciphered script called “Rongorongo” were found on the island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), four of which were removed in 1869 by Catholic Missionaries, according to a study published in the journal Nature. Those wooden tablets were analyzed using radiocarbon dating, and one of them was found to pre-date European settlement on the island, the study said. Easter Island was “discovered” by Europeans in the 1720s, and absolutely decimated in the years following, the...

Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) signed legislation repealing the basic skills test that had been previously required for college graduates to be certified as teachers in the state's public schools. "Forcing people to prove they are proficient in reading, writing and math in order to be accepted as teachers is out-dated," Murphy said. "In today's world these are no longer essential skills. Tik Tok videos and texting are the main methods of communication used by today's youngsters. This is what our teachers need to be using." Angela Morabito, a spokesperson for the Defense of Freedom Institute and former press secretary for...

Well, I have scoured a half dozen web sites. I confess that I, perhaps, am not good at searching the Internet. But how many key words would one have to know and use to search for a mailing address ??!! So, would anyone like to make fun of me, at least, while you, please provide a valid USPS mailing address for the celebrated talk show and TV personality, Sean Hannity?

Oregon school chiefs have again suspended the need for high schoolers to prove their math, reading and writing skills in order to graduate. The State Board of Education voted last week to continue the suspension for another five years amid claims they are unfair on minority students who don't test well. In order to earn a diploma, graduating students were previously required to earn standardized test scores indicating proficiency in reading, writing and math. But this was put on pause during the pandemic as standardized tests weren't happening amid school closures. Following a unanimous vote by the Oregon State Board...

Oregon high school students won’t have to prove basic mastery of reading, writing or math to graduate from high school until at least 2029, the state Board of Education decided unanimously on Thursday, extending the pause on the controversial graduation requirement that began in 2020.

Oregon high school students won’t have to prove basic mastery of reading, writing or math to graduate from high school until at least 2029, the state Board of Education decided unanimously on Thursday, extending the pause on the controversial graduation requirement that began in 2020. The vote went against the desires of dozens of Oregonians who submitted public comments insisting the standards should be reinstated, including former Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan. Backlash against the lowered standard had already delayed the vote, originally slated to take place in September. Opponents argued that pausing the requirement devalues an Oregon diploma. Giving...

n his rousing keynote address at The Heritage Foundation’s 50th anniversary gala last month, then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson offered an unexpected piece of advice: “Don’t throw away your hard-copy books.” Unlike digitized books, films, and albums that can be canceled, rewritten, or vanished altogether, physical copies are “the enduring repository that cannot be disappeared.” With their resurrection of poetry recitation requirements, educators in Georgia and Arkansas are protecting that repository in more ways than one, steeping students in a reality they can affirm, trust, and love. Both states’ departments of education recently proposed revised K-12 English language arts standards...

Researchers from Durham University have decoded the meaning of markings found in Ice Age drawings, providing evidence of early writing at least 20,000 years ago.The team were studying cave art, found in at least 400 European caves such as Lascaux, Chauvet and Altamira, which contains a series of lines and dots found alongside drawings of animals...The team has revealed that the lines and dots indicate the mating and birthing seasons of animals. A "Y" sign formed by adding a diverging line to another has also been determined to mean "giving birth".By using the birth cycles of equivalent animals today as...

I've just finished a rough draft of a book length sci fi story, it's taken me a year and I've still got some rewriting to do but I was starting to think about the next steps in possibly getting it published. I've not been on the internet in any depth for over a year and I don't know what sort help and resources are available these days so any help from published or even aspiring authors would be greatly appreciated.Like I said, it's not finished yet, but the rough draft is good, it has a beginning a middle and an...