text:
In Hawaiian religion, HIʻIAKA is a daughter of Haumea and Kāne.

Attributes and history

Hiiaka, or the youngest Hiiaka, was the patron goddess of Hawaii, hula dancers, chant, sorcery and medicine.[1][2] Owls were her messengers and were sacred to her. Her common and family name means “carried egg” - “hii”, to hold or carry in the arms (as a child), and “aka”, meaning embryo - referring to the story of how she was brought to Hawaii by her sister Pele. Her family line is called Hiiaka, and they take on the task of bearing the clouds, providing rain, thunder and lightning variously, those of storms and those produced by Pele's volcanoes.[3] Hiiaka lived in a grove of Lehua trees which are sacred to her where she spent her days dancing with the forest spirits.

Hiiaka was conceived in Tahiti, but carried in the form of an egg to Hawaii by Pele, who kept the egg with her at all times to incubate it. From this, she earned her full name, Hiiaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele: “Hiiaka in the bosom of Pele”. Hiiaka is Pele's favorite and most loyal sister, although they have also had their differences. Hiiaka was the first God of this pantheon (the Pele family) born in Hawaii.

Goddess of Hula and the importance of traditions

Hiʻiaka was the first to dance hula after her eldest sister Pele asked her to do so. Therefore, Hiʻiaka is known as a goddess of hula, along with Laka and Kapo (other sisters of Pele). In hula Hālau (hula schools), ceremonies for these goddesses take place.[4]

Oli kāhea are chants asking for permission to enter a place (like someone's home or a ceremony). These chants are also used when asking someone intelligent, like a teacher, to share their knowledge. In Hawaiian culture, the people are taught to use oli kāhea to ask permission to enter a forest, since many forest are considered the homes of the gods. In hula Hālau (hula schools), oli and mele kāhea are chanted by the haumana (students). The haumana (students) use the oli kāhea to request that their kumu (teachers) allow them entry into the Hālau (school). When chanting oli kāhea, Hawaiians are taught to be humble and to have good 'ano (proper spirit and intention).[5]

The importance of mele kahea, and the responsibility of those receiving mele kahea, is seen in different parts of Hiʻiaka's quest to Lohiau. For example, when the chief of Maui denied Hiʻiaka hospitality after she asked for permission to enter his home (through her mele kahea), Hiʻiaka punished him. When the chief was sleeping, Hiʻiaka caught his spirit after it left his body, and killed it (killing him). Therefore, Hawaiians are taught that being on both the giving and receiving parts of oli (chants) require respect and mindfulness of our actions.[6]

Lohiau

In the best known story, Pele once fell into a deep sleep and left her body to wander, and was lured by the sound of a hula-drum accompanied by a wonderful voice. In the Epic Tale of Hiʻiakaikapoliopele, it is said that Pele (deity) did not accidentally hear the sounds of the drums and voices. Instead, this version says that Kanikawi and Kanikawa (the gods of Lohiʻau and his people) wanted Pele to specifically hear Lohiʻau, and later become his wife.[7] She appeared in spirit at a festival on Kauai (in most versions of the legend; another variation has her visit Kauai physically while first seeking a home)[8] where she fell in love with the singer, a young chief named Lohiʻau. Hiiaka had been watching over her, and after nine days she grew worried and sang an incantation to bring Pele back.[9] Upon her return, Pele longed for Lohiau and decided to send a messenger to bring him to her. Hiiaka volunteered to go on the dangerous journey, as long as Pele would protect her sacred grove of Lehua trees and her lover, Hopoe (meaning “one encircled, as with a lei or with loving arms”).

Pele agreed to Hiiaka's request, but insisted that she return with Lohiau within 40 days. She also instructed Hiiaka not to fall in love with Lohiau, or even embrace him.

Gifts/Tools

Before Hiʻiaka left for her quest, Pele (deity) gifted her with three tools to help her face the trials throughout the quest. The first gift was ʻAwihikalani (a critical eye), to help her to foretell the future encounters she would face, communicate with spirits, and grant her the ability to have supernatural knowledge. The second gift was called Ka lima ikaika o Kīlauea (the “strong arm” of Kilauea), to help her defeat her opponents in battle with super strength. The last gift was Paʻu uila (lightning skirt), this skirt had different abilities to help her along her journey. This skirt also had extreme importance due to the fact that it is a female garment, showing the significance of supernatural women in Hawaii not being ruled by male gods.[10]

Companions

Paʻuopalapalai (Fern Skirt) was a loyal servant to the Pele (deity) family for so long that she had become like a spirit. Therefore, she was trusted to be Hiʻiaka's companion on journey. After the two left Kīlauea, they met a very devout and pious woman named Wahine ʻOmaʻo (Green Woman), who joined them on the journey after she made her offerings to Pele (deity).[11] Wahine ʻOmaʻo was a half-goddess. She was the only companion of Hiʻiaka who completed the entire journey with her.[12]

Journey/Battles of Hiʻiaka

Hiiaka's journey was filled with many adventures, such as dueling with the _kupua_ (demons) of the island forests.

When the travelers arrived at Puna ma Kai, they met a gorgeous princess named Papulehu. She gifted them with red lehua and maile lei (garland). These are the plants that Puna is famous for. She was kind and gracious, however, she was not devout and did not take the time for prayers. Therefore, she did not last the first battle of the journey. Since she did not pray, she had no spiritual sight during the battle against the moʻo Panaʻewa, whom she was eaten by.[13] Panaʻewa could change into different forms like kino-ohu (fog), kino-au-awa (sharp rain), and kukui (candle-nut tree). Hiʻiaka defeated Pana'ewa by trapping her and her followers within a thickening of vines. Many more moʻo, as well as other monsters, are defeated as they traveled across Hawaiʻi. They also had the help of war gods (named Kuliliaukaua and Kekakoʻi), as well as shell-conch blowers (named Kamaiau, Kahinihini, and Mapu).[14]

When passing through Maui, Hiʻiaka and Wahine ʻOmaʻo are denied hospitality by Chief Olepau in Iao Valley. Hiʻiaka punished him with death by catching his second soul (after it left his body and wandered while he was sleeping). She pounded his body against Pahalele, the rock near Waiheʻe.

Hiʻiaka and Wahine ʻOmaʻo headed towards Oahu by passing by the extremely windy side of Molokai, called Kaunakakai. The women came across a moʻo tribe that was causing havoc to women of the area by taking their husbands. Therefore, Hiʻiaka and Wahine ʻOmaʻo exiled the moʻo tribe. They also defeated Kikipua, the mo'o woman who would eat travelers by tricking them that her tongue was a bridge. After she was defeated, Hiʻiaka used her paʻu as a bridge to ʻOahu for safe passage.

Hiʻiaka showed respect to her supernatural relatives, the rocks Maka-puʻu and Malei, when they arrived to the rocky side of ʻOahu through oli (chants). On ʻOahu, she also crushed Mokoliʻi, an evil moʻo, at Kualoa. When they arrived at Kaena point, Hiʻiaka pleaded the Rock-of-Kauai to send her a canoe to paddle over to Kauaʻi. The Rock-of Kauai traces back to Māui (mythology), when it was left at sea after his fishline broke. Hiʻiaka's request was granted and she arrived on Kauai at Haʻena to finally reach Lohiau.

When at last Hiʻiaka reached Kauaʻi she found that the young chief had died from longing for Pele. She was able to revive him with chanting and prayer, but she was not able to return to Pele within 40 days. Pele, fearing that Hiʻiaka had betrayed her and was keeping the handsome chief for herself, became enraged and not only destroyed Hiʻiaka's sacred Lehua forest, but also killed Hopoe, turning her into stone.

When Hiiaka returned, seeing her lover dead and her forest ravaged, she took revenge on Pele and embraced Lohiau. In retaliation, Pele sent waves of lava at the couple. Hiiaka was unharmed, but Lohiau was killed by the lava. Again, Hiiaka revived him, thus bringing him back to life twice.[15]

Pele, regretting her actions toward Hiiaka's forest and friend, decided to let Lohiau choose who he wanted to be with. Some versions of the legend say that Lohiau chose Hiiaka over Pele and returned with her to Kauai. Others say he decided to remain with the both of them. Still others say that he retreated to Kauai alone.

The educational Hawaiian website, Living Hawaiian Culture Kumukahi, stated that “During this long and dangerous trip, Hiʻiaka realizes her own powers as a goddess. She is the healer of land. Pele creates new land and Hiʻiaka follows by healing the land, making it fertile and causing things to grow.”[16]

Hiiaka sisters

There were “twelve” or “forty sisters”,[17] all daughters of Haumea. [The word /hii-aka/ has the meaning of 'embryo',[18] and is a compound of /hii/ 'to hold or carry in the arms (scil., a child)' and /aka/ 'embryo at the moment of conception; carefully'.]

Hiiaka-i-ka-pua-enaena

One sister included Hiiaka-i-ka-pua-enaena: “The skin of any person she possessed reddened. She was also known as Kuku-ena-i-ke-ahi-hoomau-honua (beating hot in the perpetual earth fire), and in this guise she was ... guide to travelers lost in the wilderness, and vanished when they found their way. She was also known as Hiiaka-i-ka-puaaneane (Hiiaka in extreme old age). _Lit_., Hiiaka in the smoking heat.”[19]

Hiiaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele

They also included Hiiaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele : “One of her forms was the _palaā_ lace fern ... one of the first plants to grow on new lava. ... She instituted the eating of fish from head to tail. ... _Lit_., Hiiaka in the bosom of Pele.”[20]

Defeating monsters

Soul-journey in “a deep sleep during which the spirit leaves her body”:[21]- "Hiiaka fights and overcomes a number of ... monsters.

-   The moo woman Panaewa, who impedes her way first in the form of fog (kino-ohu), then of sharp rain (kino-au-awa), then of a candlenut (kukui) tree, she entangles ... in a growth of vine ... .
-   Two moo, Kiha and Puaa-loa (Long hog), are caught in a flow of lava ... .
-   The shark at the mouth of Waipio valley who seizes swimmers crossing the bay is met and slain.
-   Moolau, chief of the jumping mo'o (mahiki) in the land of Mahiki-waena, is defied ... .
-   Two moo, Pili and Noho, who make travelers pay toll at the bridge across the Wailuku river, are rent jaw to jaw and the way opened for free traffic."

Shamanic soul-catching

-   “Refused hospitality at the home of the chief Olepau [or Kaulahea] in Iao valley, Hiiaka avenges the insult by catching his second soul, as it goes fluttering about as he lies sleeping, and dashing it against the rock Palahele near Waihee.”[22]
-   “Peleula is a famous makaula or seer, but Hiiaka prevails over her. Waihinano, the pert sorceress who defies her on Maui, has been brought up by Kapo and Pua, but Hiiaka catches and crushes to death the soul of the Maui chief for which they both contend. ... Pele gives Hiiaka to Paoa as his wife and he returns with her to Kaua'i”.[23]

[1] The Legends and Myths of Hawaii, David Kalakaua, 1888.

[2] Myths and Legends of Hawaii, W.D. Westervelt, 2005.

[3] Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes, William D Westervelt, 1916.

[4]

[5]  'Ōlelo|website=apps.ksbe.edu|access-date=2019-04-07}}

[6]

[7]

[8] “Part Two: Children of the Gods XI: The Pele Myth” from Sacred-Texts.com

[9] Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes, William D Westervelt, 1916.

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15] Glen Grant 1999.

[16]  Explore|website=www.kumukahi.org|access-date=2019-04-07}}

[17] William D. Westervelt : _Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes_. 1916. p. 69

[18] Mary Kawena Pukui & Samuel H. Elbert : _Hawaiian Dictionary_. U Pr of HI, Honolulu, 1971. p. 64a, s.v. “Hii-aka”

[19] Mary Kawena Pukui & Samuel H. Elbert: _Hawaiian Dictionary_. U Pr of HI, Honolulu, 1971. p. 383b

[20] Mary Kawena Pukui & Samuel H. Elbert : _Hawaiian Dictionary_. U Pr of HI, Honolulu, 1971. p. 383a

[21] Martha Beckwith : _Hawaiian Mythology_. Yale U Pr, 1940. p. 173

[22] Martha Beckwith : _Hawaiian Mythology_. Yale U Pr, 1940. p. 174

[23] Martha Beckwith : _Hawaiian Mythology_. Yale U Pr, 1940. p. 184

title: Hiʻiaka

question: Summarize everything relating to romantic relationships.

answer: One version of the story says that Kanikawi and Kanikawa wanted Pele to hear Lohi'au and become his wife. She fell in love with Lohi;au at a festival on Kauai. Hiiaka volunteered to bring him to her so long as Pele would protect her lover, Hopoe. Pele instructed Hiiaka not to fall in love with Lohiau.

question: What does the article say about battle?

answer: During Hiiaka's journey, she dueled with the kupua of the island forests. The princess Papulehu did not last the first battle of the journey, and she was eaten byu the mo'o Pana'ewa. Hi'aka defeated Pana'ewa by trapping her within a thickening of vines. Hi'iaka and Whine 'Oma'o also defeated Kikipua. On 'Oahu, Hi'iaka crushed Mokoli'i.

question: What does the article say about Christianity?


split: test

text:
I don't know exactly where to put this but its my crazy ramblings from being high as a fucking kite by myself for the first time in a long time and i felt the urge for some reason. never done this before. ill tell you upfront its longer than than an old ladies cooch is dry but just give it a shot. and im too fucked up and too tired to figure out how to properly post this and i dont care to hear about it so please dont waste your time talking about for my sake thanks and good night

Ravings of a crazy man

    I get in the truck
    Just saw my buddy
    I like my buddy
    Hes a cool ass guy
    Hes a real fucking hippy though
    like weed selling
    But real old school hippy
    When they could still often bee seen as real fucking good guys
    Standing up proudly for what they know is right
    Not just drugs
    Like the media wants people to see to day
    But for everything that is right
    Right in the old school sense
    In the old school manly sense
    I would trust him with my dog
    I fucking love my dog
dog you are a champ
    You are not a dog
    Youre a god damn person
    Look back
    Dog is in truck bed looking at me
    Smiling
    Fuck the police
    Wtf happened to police
    They used to be good guys
    I used to want to shake their hand
    All of them
    I know lots of police
    My dad uncle cousin gramps
    Close friend close friends dad
    All cops
    I have asked on many occasions about times they have pulled people over who were slightly drunk
    Let them go
    Told them don’t let it happen again
    No god damn auto breathalyzer sobriety test
    Wtf is that bull shit
    God damned it
    Ass holes
    Are all those men I knew just the only good guys out there
    Manly men
    Doing what they fucking know is right and even my cousin who was just recently a cop
    Same story
    God damn good man
    A mans man
    Guy I look up to
    Just like 90% of the men in my family
    Im so fucking lucky
    Holy shit
    Wtf happened
    It never used to be like this
    Back in the day
    Yea like when my dad was growing up
    My dad
    God damned good guy
    Always has and always will do what is right
    Stands up for what is right
    Countless stories from my child hood of dad sticking his ass out to help people
    Minority culture
    He saw best in
    Turned down many  much higher payin jobs
    A real fucking man
    A good guy
    Wtf
    Why don’t those guys make it big
    What do good guys get out of it
    I guess I can see why people aren’t
    Not as often I mean
    Like my family
    Im just so god damned lucky
    Holy shit
    Thank god
    But not the Christian god
    Just god the one behind all the crazy shit
    Until they prove there are other parallel universes with similar properties
    Ill believe in something behind this fucking outrageously small chance that we are here
    Im crazy
    But I genuinely think about this shit allthe time
    Should have wtore this down before
    But who gives a shit really im sure every other person in those cars could be thinkg similarly crazy thoguhts
    Right
    Yea, that’s why im full of shit
    Nah just a little crazy
    Some how I justify and string all this nutty shit
    From point to point
    But all related
    At least I think
    Man
    The brain
    Holy shit
    Do animals think this shit?
    No fucking way
    Do monkeys?
    No fucking way
    How are we so different
    Where are we from
    This chance is just to god damned fucking small if you are offended by the god damned then I don’t want to hear about it
    I know its hypocritical of me and im ok with that
    Im can be a little bit of a piece of shit
    I always try to do whats right
    Helped my buddy move till late real fucking late like much closer to daylight than midnight
    Two other dudes bounced out
    I could see why they did
    Under stand
    Shit sucked
    But why wouldn’t i?
    Something better to do?
    Friend needed help
    What else to say
    Im actually writing this
    Crazy
    Never done this shit before
    English teacher would be so god damn proud
    Haha
    Maybe ill send it to her
    That bitch best not show anyone
    That’s fucked up
    She doesn’t deserve to be called a bitch
    One of the sweetest fuckign ladies ive ever met
    Like your grandma
    My grandma
    Grandmas that is
    Just as badass and old school women as miss kitty
    Sweet as their cakes but
    Sharp as god damned razor
    and always stand up for what is right and just
    im so lucky
    it blows my mind
    but im sure lots of people have the same luck
    why is that
    that’s bull shit
    that guy who is behind our small chance
    fix this shit
    im torn because that doesn’t make sense
    Wtf

title: Feeling Crazy FIXED

question: What state was the narrator in when they wrote this piece?

answer: The narrator was incredibly high, and weed is mentioned in the poem.

question: What does the narrator lament about the change in society?

answer: The narrator is upset about how the police have changed to being people who enforce policies on people rather than protectors. They also muse about their father, who used to "stand up for what is right."


text:
New Jersey is in the crosshairs of a major winter storm that could paralyze parts of New England and dump in excess of a foot of snow on the Garden State by Saturday. The forecast remains highly volatile and may change dramatically in the coming 24 hours.

Throughout the day, The Star-Ledger will provide updates here (newest on top) as new information comes in, watches and warnings are issued and the forecast changes.

10:30 P.M. Weather forecasters tonight reiterated warnings for drivers and residents that a potentially dangerous portion of the storm will be hitting much of central and northern New Jersey during Friday's evening rush-hour. Major travel delays are expected late Friday and Friday night as rain turns into snow, the National Weather Service forecast said.

MORE SNOWSTORM UPDATES

• Friday, Feb. 8: N.J. snowstorm: Live updates on blizzard, traffic, flooding and more

• Saturday, Feb. 9: N.J. snowstorm update: Power outages, snow totals and other storm news

After periods of rain, heavy snow is expected to be falling in many places by late Friday afternoon , the forecast said. In some places north of Interstate 78, snow is expected to come down between 1 and 2 inches per hour. In counties like Sussex, Morris and Warren, expected snow accumulations range from 6 to 16 inches.

For many towns from Jackson in Ocean County to Somerville in Somerset County and out east to Long Beach Island, snow accumulation is expected to range from 4 to 10 inches. High winds are expected throughout the region, topping out in Monmouth County, with gusts up to 45 mph possible.

By daybreak Saturday, flurries will taper off, giving way to a sunny, blustery day, the latest forecast said.

9:12 P.M. With forecasters still predicting a major winter storm to hit New Jersey, many schools throughout the state are preemptively canceling or delaying classes Friday.

8:45 P.M. In advance of the storm, NJ Transit has announced it will be offering full systemwide cross-honoring all day Friday and all day Saturday, enabling customers to use their ticket or pass on an alternate travel mode — rail, bus or light rail.

5 P.M. The signatures of thunder-snow (which is just what it sounds like -- thunder and lightning during heavy snow) are showing up on several models, according to NY NJ PA Weather meteorologistSteven DiMartino.

This indicates the potential for extremely heavy snow to fall in eastern New Jersey tomorrow night, and adds to the unpredictability to totals.

"Where you get some of this convective snow, when it comes down, it's going to come down very, very hard," he said. "It's difficult to pinpoint just where these bands are going to occur. You could end up with a situation where one town has 18 inches of snow and the next town over has three."

DiMartino stressed the volatility that remains in the forecast, and urged state residents to pay close attention to changing conditions. Many of the details of what ultimately will happen in local areas will not be determined until the storm beings to come together tomorrow.

He said the potential for these heavier snow bands to develop may be why some forecast models (like the NAM, above), are predicting much heavier snowfall totals than the National Weather Service.

[]

The North American Model (NAM), released this afternoon, showed well over a foot of snow falling over many areas in New Jersey.

4:13 P.M. The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for parts of northeastern New Jersey, including Newark and Jersey City, and the five boroughs of New York, where upwards of 14 inches of snow are expected along with howling winds and severely reduced visibility.

The blizzard warnings are in effect from 6 a.m. Friday until 1 p.m. Saturday and warn of 10 to 14 inches of snow, with locally higher amounts and white-out conditions with wind gusts of up to 45 miles per hour. Blizzard conditions are expected in coastal northeastern New Jersey, in southern Bergen and Passaic Counties and Eastern Hudson, Essex and Union counties.

Further north and west, 10 to 14 inches of snow are also expected, but winds are not expected to reach blizzard criteria. Winter storm warnings are in effect there.

3:24 P.M. The National Weather Service at Mount Holly has issued Winter Storm warnings for several counties in northern and central New Jersey and extended further them further south than the areas the previously issued watches covered.

The winter storm warnings have been issued for Sussex, Warren, Morris, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and northwest Burlington counties. In Sussex, Warren and Morris counties, the National Weather Service is expecting between ten to 16 inches of snow to fall, while other counties in the warning areacould receive six to ten inches. The warnings are in effect from 6 a.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday.

Expect the National Weather Service's Upton, N.Y. office, which covers northeastern N.J., to follow suit shortly.

Further south, winter weather advisories have been issued for the rest of the state, where between two and five inches of snow is anticipated.

3:07 P.M.The private and public sectors in New Jersey are now bracing for major storm impacts.

More than 350 United Airlines flights, many based out of Newark-Liberty International Airport, have already been canceled, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. NJ Transit announced they will cross-honor tickets across its entire system. Utilities like Jersey Central Power & Light and PSE&G say they will have extra crews on hand to deal with potential power issues caused by heavy snow and wind.

Additionally, several events are being postponed across the state, such as two sectional high school track championships. The state Office of Emergency Management has not yet opened its operations center in Trenton, but it remains a possibility. Mary Goepfert, a spokeswoman for OEM, said the state is monitoring the storm closely and has been in contact with local emergency managers in preparation.

2:07 P.M. The European model is in and it looks snowy, much like many of the other models that ran earlier. Were this to verify, a six to 12-inch plus snowfall is definitely in the cards for north and central New Jersey, particularly north of Interstate-195.

Freehold-based meteorologist and owner of NY NJ PA Weather Steven DiMartino said he likes the European solution best, so far, and agrees with totals.

What does the NAM look like, you ask? Well the snowfall printout is posted below, but Eric Holthaus tweeted a picture of the simulated radar produced by the NAM model for tomorrow night. An absolute monster.

1:50 P.M. The most-affected regions of Hurricane Sandy along the New Jersey coast are about to take another hit. With defenses already weakened, coastal communities could see major impacts from coastal flooding, with the worst coming Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

"I'm really worried about the areas worst hit by Sandy," said NWS meteorologist Gary Szatkowski. "Time is starting to work against us...We could see substantial beach erosion. I know people have been working hard, but there's less to erode. We could easily see waves and water coming into areas you typically wouldn't."

Szatkowski said he is concerned about the Raritan Bay shore in particular, where a three foot storm surge is possible at high tide Saturday morning, with five to seven foot waves breaking over top of it.

1:22 P.M. Tomorrow night's commute could be awful in northern New Jersey. By 7 p.m., there is a threat that snowfall rates could reach two inches per hour across large swaths of northern and central New Jersey. Snowfall rates of this magnitude could reduce visibility substantially, wreak havoc on roads and make travel dangerous, if not nearly impossible.

Gary Szatkowski, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service's Mount Holly office, said he is going "very worried" about deteoriorating conditions in the afternoon, and posted a map on Twitter showing where the threat of intense snowfall will be at 7 p.m.

12:34 P.M. An important thing to remember about this storm is the volatility in the forecast remains high, even though models have been trending snowier. State Climatologist David Robinson said the bust potential for this forecast is "tremendous" and the slightest shift in the forecast track could mean the difference between a major snowstorm, and a primarily rain event for much of the state.

Eric Holthaus, of the Wall Street Journal, points out that how much warm air enters region prior to storm will be crucial

12:04 P.M. The National Weather Service at Mount Hollyand Upton, N.Y. both issued briefing packages on the coming storm this morning. Each warned that blizzard conditions may occur Friday night in northern New Jersey. Mount Holly suggested blizzard warnings may be necessary as the storm unfolds.

Blizzard warnings are issued during very specific situations by the National Weather Service. Anticipated winds of at least 35 miles per hour and visibility reduced below a quarter of a mile for a period of three hours is necessary before the agency pulls the trigger on such a warning. Travel would become all but impossible.

11:53 A.M. David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University, said he does not envy forecasters today, calling this type of storm "the most difficult forecast a New Jersey meteorologist will have to make." The forecast is complicated for a number of reasons, from New Jersey's geography to the thermal profile of the atmosphere. More on why New Jersey winter storms are so hard to pin down later.

11:35 A.M. Forecast model guidance on the storm continues to vary but appears to be focusing in on a snowier solution for northern and central New Jersey. Overnight, several reliable models (The European, GFS and NAM) showed very different solutions to the storm, showing everything from minor event to a major winter storm that would have serious impacts on travel in northern sections of the state.

This morning, the GFS and NAM both showed the bulk of New Jersey north of I-195 receiving several inches of snow, perhaps exceeding a foot in some areas. The latest run of the European model, considered one of the most reliable, will be released at approximately 1:30 p.m.

[]

The North American Model (NAM) shows an even snowier solution for New Jersey, with parts of the state easily exceeding a foot of snow.

Keep in mind, each model run is just one of scores of pieces of data the National Weather Service uses to make forecasts and no single model should be viewed as a complete representation of what will happen.

11:30 A.M. A winter storm watch remains in effectfor the vast majority of northern and central New Jersey. Current forecasts call for six to 12 inches of snow, with higher amounts possible in the northern most sections of New Jersey.

Because the storm is highly complex and much remains uncertain, particularly where the rain/snow line will fall, the National Weather Service is holding off on issuing any warnings until this afternoon.

_The Associated Press contributed to this report._

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question: What does the article say about the storm's effects on daily life?

answer: Daily events are expected to be heavily disrupted during the storm as the conditions for a blizzard are ripe. Travel is expected to be heavily affected, and NJ Transit announced that commuters will be able to use their tickets for any transit option like buses, ferries, etc. will be able to use it for another method. Visibility is expected to be extremely reduced as well. Furthermore, due to the coastal areas having already been affected by the hurricane Sandy, this storm may push waves and water inland to a degree much further than previously seen. The storm can also end up destroying the roads, making travel impossible. Finally, many schools preemptively canceled schools in addition to several events.

question: What does the article say about forecasting storms?

answer: Weather forecasting is inherently volatile, and forecasting storms has a real chance of becoming a dud. Saying how severe a storm will be with certainty a few days before it happens isn't really possible. The article talks about different models, GFS, the North American Model, and the European model. Initially, the three models showed different events - from a minor event to a severe storm. The difficulties of prediction come from New Jersey's geography and thermal properties of the atmosphere. As time went on, the predictions all became snowier. However, the North American Model showed a much more severe storm.

question: What does the article say about the storm's effects on the financial markets?


text:
IFGE promotes acceptance for transgender people. We advocate for freedom of gender expression and promote the understanding and acceptance of All People: Transgender, Cis-gender, Transsexual, Crossdresser, Agender, Gender Queer, Intersex, Two Spirit, Hijra, Kathoey, Drag King, Drag Queen, Queer, Lesbian, Gay, Straight, Butch, Femme, Faerie, Homosexual, Bisexual, Heterosexual, and of course - You!

IFGE partners with the Gender Identity Center for 2012 Conference in Colorado

Wed, 02/22/2012 - 04:28 — dleclair

Colorado Gold Rush Transgender Conference is fast approaching. You don't want to miss this, Great Workshops, Best banquet food ever, Best Hotel and staff ever,, Our entertainment on Friday and Saturday is out of this world,, check out the site and sign up,, The Colorado Gold Rush and IFGE and have partnered up this year to bring you a great conference. http://gicofcolo.org/gold-rush-2012.aspx

IFGE Commemorates the Transgender day of Remembrance

Mon, 11/21/2011 - 02:58 — dleclair

The International Foundation for Gender Education Commemorates the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

“Today, November 20, 2011 is the 13th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. We take this day every year to memorialize the people who have lost their lives due to anti-transgender violence. This violence and hatred is the result of society portraying transgender people as being worth less than other people, and as objects to be erased.

The only way to combat this violence is to get society see us as human beings with family and loved ones, dreams and aspirations, and not as objects. The Transgender Day of Remembrance is our opportunity to make this statement in solidarity with transgender people across the world, and to make sure that our fallen brothers and sisters are not forgotten.

We will not be erased.” –Denise Leclair, IFGE Executive Director

-   Read more

Dr. Maxwell Anderson of "Southern Comfort" Passes at 53

Fri, 01/15/2010 - 09:04 — dxleclair

[Dr Maxwell Anderson]
January 14, 2010 - Marietta Georgia

Dr. Maxwell Anderson, born August 26, 1956, died today after a short bout with glioma, a highly aggressive type of brain cancer. He has been a prominent figure in the transgender community for many years, and is probably best known for his appearance in "Southern Comfort," the documentary about Robert Eads. Maxwell was a recipient of IFGE's Trinity award for his years of service on behalf of transgender people, and recently received his PhD in Psychology.

Maxwell is survived by his sister Susie and his cat Blue.

He left a farewell message on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/v/lHEod3CGskg
His blog can be read at: http://drmaxwellanderson.com/
His Facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/drmaxdaddy

IFGE calls on the Late Show with David Letterman to apologize for trans-panic joke.

Fri, 01/08/2010 - 23:06 — dxleclair

January 8, 2010 - Washington DC

The International Foundation for Gender Education is calling on David Letterman to apologize for a defamatory skit that ran this week on the Late Show. On the program, Mr. Letterman announced President Barack Obama's appointment of Amanda Simpson to serve a national security role in the Commerce Department as Senior Technical Adviser. The show's announcer, Alan Kalter, ran offstage in a panic when Mr. Letterman stated that Ms. Simpson was transgender, implying that he had had a sexual relationship with her, and that she had deceived him.

-   Read more

IFGE 2010: Call for Conference Presenters & Provider Day Posters

Sat, 12/12/2009 - 13:32 — dxleclair

The Capital Conference 2010, IFGE’s 24th Annual conference, will have two segments. A Providers Day will be held on April 22nd in collaboration with the George Washington University's Department of Speech and Hearing Science with a theme of “Building Competencies for Serving TransPeople and their Families”.

There will also be a poster presentation session that evening. The Provider Day will allow those who provide speech, medical and mental health services to the transgender community, to share their knowledge with an audience of other providers. We welcome applications for participation in the Provider Day Poster session. Poster presenters will receive a discount off the full registration fee.

Seminars for the main Capital Conference will be held April 23rd-24th with a theme of “Education for Action; Knowing Yourself, Knowing Your Community and Committing to Action”. This component is targeted towards the broader transgender community. The Capital Conference may address gender related issues, emerging ‘trends’ and triumphs in the community, the politics related to gender issues, and other issues of interest. We are also interested in cross-disciplinary contributions from related fields such as medical professionals, mental health providers, researchers and educators of gender studies. Seminar sessions are typically 75 to 90 minutes and may be conducted by one or more speakers or another format as suggested by the submitter. It can present a case study, how to, big idea, theoretical discussion, new topic, a new way of looking at an existing topic, or other material. We welcome all applications for presenters at the Capital Conference.

-   Read more

The International Foundation for Gender Education Thanks our Nation's Leaders for Enacting the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Thu, 10/29/2009 - 21:17 — dxleclair

October 28, 2009 – Washington, D.C.

Culminating years of effort by leaders across the nation, President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law in a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House. This is the first federal law to specifically protect transgender people, adding protections for GENDER, GENDER IDENTITY, DISABILITY AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION to the 1969 Hate Crime Act, which already covered race, color, religion and national origin.

"Transgender people have lived in fear far too long," said Denise Leclair, executive director of the International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE). "When we are repeatedly targeted with acts of violence, we are deprived of the basic rights and freedoms that other people take for granted. This law sends a clear signal that we deserve, and are entitled to equal protection."

-   Read more

IFGE Announces Call For 2010 Trinity Award Nominations

Sat, 10/17/2009 - 11:07 — dxleclair

Oct 11, 2009 – Washington, D.C., - The International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE) is pleased to announce that nominations are now being sought for the Trinity Awards – to be presented at the 2010 IFGE Annual Conference – The Capital Conference, to be held at the Hilton Mark Plaza Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia April 22-25, 2010. “The Trinity Awards honor our heroes: living transgender persons who have performed extraordinary acts of courage and love in service to the transgender community,” noted Yvonne Cook-Riley, Awards Committee Chair. “Participation across the entire transgender community, its allies and friends, is essential to the awards-nominating process, and we hope to see everyone at the awards ceremony at the Capital Conference next April, “ Cook-Riley continued.

-   Read more

Dottie Laing Passes

Sun, 09/06/2009 - 05:21 — dxleclair

Dottie Laing passed away this evening, September 5, 2009, about 6:40 p.m. just before sunset. Dottie was married to former IFGE Executive Director Alison Laing for over 50 years.

Dottie worked tirelessly on behalf of the transgender community even though she was not transgender. She held many leadership roles such as Director of Fantasia Fair, and Fund Raising Chair for IFGE, as well as leading workshops and special Significant Others activities at conferences.

Dottie's work was recognized by numerous awards from the transgender community including IFGE's Trinity and Virginia Prince awards, in addition to the Fantasia Fair Award of Merit.

-   Read more

Legislators of the Day: North Dakota's Conrad, Dorgan and Pomeroy

Tue, 08/11/2009 - 23:01 — dxleclair

North Dakota is a key state in the fight for ENDA.

There are three votes in play here. Please call them today to ask for their support. Facts and contact info after the jump.

[Senator Kent Conrad]
[Senator Byron Dorgan]
[Representative Earl Pomeroy]

Senator Kent Conrad is a Democrat who previously voted for the hate crimes bill. According to Wikipedia, Conrad has a mixed record on gay rights. While he personally is opposed to gay marriage, he voted against a proposed constitutional ban on the matter and has supported bills that prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation. Call him at 701-258-4648 to support S1584.

Senator Byron Dorgan is a Democrat who has previously cosponsored a bill that inclusides the language of sexual orientation. Co-sponsorship suggests a higher level of support He also voted for the hate crimes bill. According to Wikipedia, As chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, Dorgan is one of the most powerful Democrats in the Senate. He recently sent a letter to a constituent stating his support for sexual orientation discrimination protections, but said nothing about gender identity. Does he support an inclusive ENDA? Find out. Call him at 701-250-4618 to support S1584.

Representative Earl Pomeroy is a Blue Dog Democrat. However, he voted yes on the hate crimes bill and voted yes on ENDA in 2007. Call him at 701-224-0355 to support HR 3017.

Please list any info you get in the comments section below. We need to know where these three are on ENDA.

If you want to see info on the ENDA target list for the Senate, click here.

[Syndicate content]

question: Who are some of the people fighting most for transgender rights in the document?

answer: Dottie Lang, who passed away in 2009, had worked tirelessly on behalf of the transgender community even though she was not transgender, and passed away in 2009. In the same year, President Barack Obama added gender, gender identity and disability and sexual orientation to the 1969 hate crime act. Dr. Maxwell Anderson, who died in 2010, also fought for the transgender community. Denise Leclair, the director of the IFGE, who wrote this document, is also notable.

question: Who is most opposed to transgender advancement according this document?

answer: According to this article, David Letterman, although perhaps not opposed, did run a skit that was considered offensive by the transgender community. Senator Kent Conrad is a Democrat who is opposed to gay marriage, and Senator Byron Dorgan is on the fence about adding transgender protection to hate crimes protection. The document encourages the reader to call both of them.


text:
[Well-developed Diana's tree grown up over copper rod from silver/mercury amalgam placed in 0.1 M solution of silver nitrate - reaction time 2 hrs.] DIANA'S TREE ( or _Dianae_), also known as the PHILOSOPHER'S TREE (_Arbor Philosophorum_), was considered a precursor to the PHILOSOPHER’S STONE and resembled coral in regards to its structure.[1] It is a dendritic amalgam of crystallized silver, obtained from mercury in a solution of silver nitrate; so-called by the alchemists, among whom “Diana” stood for silver.[2][3] The arborescence of this amalgam, which even included fruit-like forms on its branches, led pre-modern chemical philosophers to theorize the existence of life in the kingdom of minerals.[4]

The Tree of Diana as an Alchemical Product

Alchemy is a category of science that makes assumptions about nature and involves the use of minerals, metals, and the synthesis of medications.[5] Although now considered a pseudoscience, the practice of alchemy has contributed experimental techniques to the chemistry world such as the process of distillation and sublimation.[6] Alchemy was an early version of chemistry combined with metal work; one of the main goals of early alchemists was to create what was known as the Philosopher’s Stone, a substance that when heated and combined with a non precious metal like copper or iron (known as the “base”) would turn into gold. The Tree of Diana was a precursor to the Philosopher's stone: experiments involving the Tree aimed to turn non precious metals into precious metals like gold or silver, similar to the Philosopher's stone. Alchemy began as a quest for knowledge and to understand the world, but the practice did not make it far past the Enlightenment (around 17th and 18th centuries). However, many serious chemists throughout history were also alchemists, including Isaac Newton.[7]

Alchemists who made the Tree

In pre-modern chemistry, the various methods for procuring Diana's Tree were exceedingly time-consuming; for example, the following process, originally described by Nicolas Lemery, required forty days to see results:

    “Dissolve an ounce of pure silver in a sufficient quantity of aqua fortis, exceedingly pure, and of a moderate strength, and having put the solution in a jar, dilute it with about twenty ounces of distilled water. Then add two ounces of mercury, and leave the whole at rest. In the course of forty days, there will rise from the mercury a kind of tree, which throwing out branches will represent natural vegetation.”[8]

Giambattista della Porta in the 16th century described it this way:

    “Dissolve Silver in Aquafortis, evaporate into thin air at the fire, that there may remain at the bottom a thick unctious substance. Then Distill fountain water twice or thrice, and pour it on the thick matter, shaking it well. Then let it stand a little, and pour into another glass vessel the most pure water, in which the Silver is. Add to the water a pound of Quicksilver, in a most transparent crystalline glass that will attract to it that Silver. And in the space of a day there will spring up a most beautiful tree from the bottom, and hairy, as made of most fine beards of Corn, and it will fill the whole vessel, that the eye can behold nothing more pleasant. The same is made of Gold with Aquaregia.”[9]

17th century American alchemist George Starkey, who wrote under the pen name “Eireanus Philalethes,” had a recipe for sophick mercury that produced a branch-like structure consisting of an alloy of gold and mercury. His process involved the repeated distillation of the mercury, which he then heated while adding gold to produce the structure. Historian of science Lawrence Principe has reconstructed and recreated recipes for Diana's tree used in the 17th century. In one version, he used a small seed of gold mixed with mercury to create the “Philosopher’s Tree.” Principe explained that the creation of gold from gold itself was obviously possible.[10]

A recently discovered manuscript by Isaac Newton shows a recipe that Newton copied from a text by Starkey that vaguely explains how to make “sophick mercury,” a substance that was thought to be the main ingredient of the Philosopher’s Stone. While there is no evidence that Newton made his own version of Diana’s Tree, one of his old manuscripts did have a recipe for Diana’s Tree, along with Newton’s own notes, that was copied from a text by alchemist George Starkey.[11] In the same manuscript are notes written by Newton that explain his own procedure for alchemically subliming lead ore, a process that occupied many of his laboratory efforts to create the Philosopher’s Stone. Isaac Newton kept his experiments on alchemy a secret, as the practice was illegal in England at the time. In addition, much of Newton's work regarding alchemy was lost in a fire supposedly started by his dog.[12]

The quickest method, as described by German natural philosopher Wilhelm Homberg (1652-1715), took about a quarter of an hour, and is described as follows. Take four drams of filings of fine silver, with which make an amalgam, without heat, with two drams of quicksilver. Dissolve this amalgam in four ounces of aqua fortis, and pour the solution into three gallons of water. Stir it for a while until mixed, and then keep it in a glass vessel well stopped. To initiate the experiment, take about an ounce of the substance, and put it in a small vial; add to this a quantity the size of a pea of the ordinary amalgam of gold, or silver, which should be as soft as butter. Let the vial rest for two or three minutes. Immediately after this, several small filaments will visibly arise perpendicularly from the little bulb of the amalgam, which will grow and thrust out small branches in the form of a tree. The ball of amalgam will grow hard, like a pellet of white earth, and the little tree will be bright silver in color.[13]

The form of this metallic tree may be varied as desired. The stronger the user makes the first described water, the thicker the tree will be with branches, and sooner formed. Homberg also described how numerous other kinds of trees may be produced by crystallization and “digestion”.[14]

Different Forms of the Tree

There is also SATURN'S TREE, which was a deposit of crystallized lead, massed together in the form of a “tree”. It is produced by a shaving of zinc in a solution of the lead(II) acetate. In alchemy, “Saturn” was the name used for lead.[15]

SOPHICK MERCURY: A COMBINATION OF DISTILLED MERCURY, GOLD, AND HEAT

Over time, the Tree of Diana has been recreated using various processes and ingredients. One of the earliest recorded recipes of the “tree” involves the continuous distillation of mercury and then heating it with gold. An alloy metal would be created, and its branch-like formations looked similar to the Tree of Diana. The sophick mercury experiment is said to have potentially influenced Isaac Newton in later experiments, and it is believed that he used lead instead of mercury in his own tree creations. While the timeline for recipes is slightly blurred, various recipes in the past show that many alchemists were attempting to make a tree. The sophick mercury formation of the tree was a stepping stone for other tree formations and experimentations involving the mixture of metals in the future.[16]

MODERN VERSIONS USING COPPER

The formation of these “trees” using different metals has fascinated chemists for hundreds of years. Experiments with the Tree of Diana have inspired modern experiments that analyze the reaction between a metal and other substances. One recent experiment at the University of Seattle, Washington examined the reaction between solid copper and aqueous silver nitrate. Silver ions react with the copper metal to form a crystal structure, and this reaction proceeds until the concentration of silver ions is exhausted. The set-up of this experiment is very similar to the format of the experiments that were conducted to create the Tree of Diana in the past. This experiment was inspired by the work of early alchemists that attempted to produce the Tree of Diana. Early alchemists attempted to “grow” a precious metal like silver or gold with the reaction of these precious metals and another substance, creating the tree-like structure.[17]

[1]

[2] Brewer, E. Cobham (1894). _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_.

[3]

[4] Collis, Robert. _Interest at the Petrine Court_. University of Turku. Retrieved 2007-05-23.

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8] Ozanam, Jacques and Jean Etienne Montucla (1814). _Recreations in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy_, Vol 4. London: T. Davison. pp 372-374.

[9] Giambattista della Porta “Magiae Naturalis”, Book 5, Chapter 5.

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

title: Diana's Tree

question: What does the text say about the methods of creating Diana's Trees?

answer: There are various different formulations used to create Diana's Trees. One of them gives results in under an hour while another takes forty days to produce the tree-like chemical tendrils. Nicolas Lemery's method involves dissolving pure silver in aqua fortis before diluting it with distilled water. Then mercury is added, and the solution is left to wait for forty days. Giambattista Della Porta's method is quicker,  taking only a day. It too starts with dissolving silver in aqua fortis but then it's evaporated with fire until a thick unctuous substance is left. Distilled water is put on top of that, shaken, and transported into a glass where quicksilver is added. There's another method by George Starkey, using both gold and mercury. His method started with repeatedly distilling mercury before heating it while adding gold to produce the tree. The most interesting one is Wilhelm Homberg's. Filings of silver amalgamated with quicksilver are dissolved in aqua fortis. Then water is added, and the mixture is stirred before putting it into a glass. A small portion is transported to a different vial and either gold or silver is added. In a few minutes, tendrils start to appear.

question: What does the article say about physics?


text:
I stood in the doorway and wondered if the door would close. It didn’t, the hinges had come off. I guess I didn’t know my own strength. The staircase was right in front of me now so I descended into the living room. No one was there, not even the dogs. This house is empty. My family left me, took off to someplace distant. I suppose they had gotten tired of me.

I hadn’t had a job for months and my brain wasn’t working quite right. They noticed the lack of work but had no clue what was inside my head.

They had left everything inside the house, all the furniture, the tv, the food, almost all of their belongings except what was necessary. It was torture. It was like they could walk in at any moment and say they had gone to the grocery store. But this was not the case, they were gone and weren’t coming back. It had been awhile since I’d seen them, no warning was issued. They had finally surprised me.

I picked up the telephone and heard the empty space. When I tried to dial out it made animal noises instead of beeps. I got sick of it and plunked it back down. The electricity was still working but none of the objects that used it functioned correctly. The fridge was hot, the clock was lying, the lights made sounds; I flicked a switch and heard a man yell “get away!” The television only had one channel, and we had cable.

Something was terribly wrong so I walked outside. The small car my family owned was still there but it did not have any wheels. I took a walk down the street and looked around the town I had always lived. My neighbor was shoveling the sidewalk, but as far as I could tell there was no snow.

“What a storm, eh?” She huffed out as she scooped.

I gave her a puzzled look and moved on. As I walked away I heard her say under her breath “What a friggin storm”

As I moved along I walked past a small pizza place that had been on the corner forever. Only now it was not a pizza place, it was a clothing store titled ‘heaven’s little closet.” I looked in the window and all of the old employees were still there except now they had on fancy suits and were selling vintage clothing, not pizza.

WEIRD, strange…this is just not right.

A dog approached me and sniffed my boots. I scratched its ears and moved along once again. I got sick to my stomach and my eyes started to blur so I turned around and headed back towards my home. I  noticed a strong stench from outside of the house and as I walked inside it got worse. The hot fridge was melting all of the food inside into a boiling swamp of stink. I could hardly handle it. I looked inside and almost vomited, but I held my composure.

Nothing in this town was right anymore, I don’t know if I had changed or if it was the whole place itself but I had always hated living here so maybe it was a sign to get to someplace new. I packed a small bag of clothing and some food that wasn’t in the rotting fridge and walked outside.

I passed a small field of grass on my way and took the time to lie down. Grass hadn’t changed, it felt the very same. I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes it had gotten somewhat darker. I grabbed my bag, which was now a different bag, blue instead of black, and headed toward the bus station. It was on the other side of the street from where I remembered it being. I got on and didn’t even look where it was going to. Goodbye.

title: Left Empty

question: Is this man hallucinating?

answer: This seems likely since everything has changed from what he recalls and many of the changes make no sense. He has also heard voices in his head.

question: How does the narrator know that his family have no idea of what is going on inside his head?

answer: This is an assumption on his part as he can't know what his family have noticed with regard to his behaviour. Perhaps the family isn't fully aware of what is going on in his head but they may know that he isn't well.

question: Why is the neighbour shovelling?

answer: She claims that there was a storm but according to the narrator, she's shovelling but there is no snow.

question: How is it possible for the food to rot so quickly?

answer: Perhaps the narrator has been away from the house longer than the story suggests. Perhaps he failed to notice the stench when he left as he had been immersed in it.

question: Write a ~13 sentence summary.

answer:
The narrator’s family have left. They have taken nothing but he knows that they aren’t coming back. He thinks they are probably tired of him. He hasn’t had a job for months and his brain isn’t working right.

He picks up the phone but it makes animal noises when he tries to dial. The electricity is still working but the fridge is hot, the clock lies and lights make sounds. The television has but one channel. The car has no wheels and the neighbour is shovelling snow but there is no snow.

He heads back home. The place stinks as the food in the fridge is decomposing. He thinks it’s time to get out of town. He heads to the station which is now on the opposite side of the road. He gets on the train without even checking where it is going.


text:
*Hello, all. I posted this to /r/writing awhile back, but didn't get any comments on it, so I'm posting it here in the hopes of getting feedback. I'm a novice writer who's never been published, and I can take criticism so please be honest. Thanks*

All day the sun burned furiously hot, causing sweat, stench, and thirst to all those unlucky enough to be under its power. There would be no darkness tonight; the sun was not going to let a little thing like the post meridian tell it to stop shining, burning, and suffocating the denizens of Little Rock.

Before the Age turned, there had been a nightly darkness, or so people were told, but now, in the Dusk Age, day and night were separated by days and sometimes a full week.

Cammy often wondered what it must have been like to live in the Noon Age, when men had been able to predict not only when the sun would rise and fall, but the changing of the weather as well. The first people of the Dusk Age had arbitrarily carried over the static 60/60/24/365.25 time keeping system, longing for a return to the days of the Noon Age. The changes had been so subtle at first that the educated people of the Noon days chalked it up to a random aberration. When the changes became more pronounced, they investigated for any breaches or alterations in their systems. Then one day, the Age turned, everything broke, and nothing was ever the same.

“Don’t start crying again.” Jason, Cammy’s brother told her.

“Excuse me?” she answered. She hadn’t heard him come into the kitchen where she sat at their copper-top table, staring aimlessly out the one window the room was afforded.

“For a second there, you had that look on your face that you get before you cry. You know, that sour lemon/I’m about to fart-face?”

Granted, she had been about to cry over a loss she never experienced, but could still feel, and worse, she did know what face he meant—an oft discussed family trait—but she could not let him know that; she was supposed to be the strong one, and he wasn’t supposed to be so damn observant.

“Halve off!” she told him, raising her heart finger in a curse-implied salute.

“If I cut myself like the Dusky Downers do, who would be here to make sure you don’t drown mom in your tears?”

“Just leave me alone, Jason. Go back to your star maps and your penny women, and let me think.”

Knifing me in the back might be kinder than your constant disproval of the way I make money for us all; the money that buys your clothes, food, and the clean water you waste on tears.”

“Leave… me…”

“Maybe,” Jason started, pulling Cammy back into the chair she had begun to rise from “you can stop thinking of me as your baby brother for a second and let me tell you something?”

Nodding was the only response he got, but it was enough.

“Older men, men who have been studying the stars since before mom was in high school, are starting to formulate what comes next. There was the Dawn Age when men saw little more than spirits and gods in the workings of life and only just started to understand nature and their own natures. The only science they had beyond trial and error was star mapping, and they guided themselves through life with wonder, fantasies, and false emotions.”

“Perhaps,” Cammy interrupted, exasperated “you can stop being so full of yourself and remember that I went to school too and don’t need a history lesson: After the Dawn Age, there was the Noon Age,” she continued for him “when everyday dawned and dusked brightly, and by understanding and utilizing the sciences of Earth, men were able to reach beyond it, to not only map the stars, but to see them, visit them, collect them from, and understand the star’s individual sciences. Their potential was limitless, and they went forward at such a blinding pace that going backwards seemed so impossible, it was never given thought. Now,” she concluded “we are in the Dusk Age, scrabbling at the ground trying to pick up the pieces of the ages before so that we can survive in a world that is foreign, hostile, untamed, and has changed all the rules of its sciences. What little fragments we have left of the Noon age are mostly useless to us, and we have had to relearn many of the ways of the people of the Dawn Age to survive. Is that about right, Monsieur Genius?”

Quietly, and completely out of character, Jason nodded and shed a single tear.

“Really?” Cammy asked, flabbergasted and slamming her hands down on the table. All the times he had mocked her for crying about the death of the Noon age, something no one alive and not even their great-grandparents had been around for and yet, here he was crying, as if… “If this is just you playing some stupid game with me!” she erupted suddenly.

“Sit down,” Jason asked meekly “and let me tell you what’s next.”

The fear in his voice was more than enough to make her obey, but her nature was one of skepticism, so her mind was ready with a few pinches of salt for whatever he was about to say.

“Under all the talk of relearned sciences, new discoveries of edibles, and propulsion systems, there is a deep fear of the next Age. Think about it, Cammy, what comes after dusk? Night” he answered himself. “Our nights may either be full of sun or wholly absent of it, but in the Night Age, will there be any day? How will humanity survive without sunlight? We have already seen how the flora and fauna adapted to the changing of the Age, but humans, relying solely on their temporary sciences, were left blind-sided, and next time, forgive the pun, we’ll be left in the dark. We’ll be cold, blind, and helpless; so low down the food chain, worms may not wait until we’re corpses to start their feastings.”

“Very good, fear monger,” Cammy replied, keeping her skepticism forefront “but there was night in the Dawn Age, so why not dawn in the Night Age? And each age lasted for few millennia, while this one is only a few hundred years old, what’s the worry? Why did you cry?” The last was her real question, the only reason she was still having this discussion and had not just walked away from another of his wild—possibly just to mess with her—stories.

“What came before the Dawn Age?” he asked her in the stoic, marmoreal voice that was a much better display of his inner character. He provided his own answer in that same voice; “A Night Age” he told her. “One so deep and dark, that it was only vaguely remembered in the Noon Age. They had a different name for it, but it still confers the meaning; The Dark Ages. They also called that Noon Age the Golden Age, and thought nothing of the previous Dawn. More importantly, there was nothing of the Dusk. It is impossible to know if any of their sciences changed as they had only just begun to scratch the surface of science, and the stars stay constant, so their mapping is the same as ours, but changes occurred, Cam. From Dawn to Noon they gained knowledge, wealth, and dominance over the Earth, just like our more recently passed forefathers, and also just like them, Night fell and wiped it all away, but how? For us, we know that violent solar flares and the subsequent fission reactions in the atmosphere destroyed all the Noon Age’s technology, disrupted the laws of physics, and the biology of all living organisms on Earth—besides humanity—changed to adapt to the new environment, but what about in the Ages past? Did the Dusk before the Dark Ages pass so quickly that it did not bear mentioning? Did they not recognize its appearance? Is there even a Dusk Age or are we already experiencing the Night’s terrors? We don’t even know if we can really rely on any information that came before the Noon Age. It’s just all so, so…”

“X” Cammy told him when he started to cry again, pulling him into a hug. It was the way she told him that she understood and agreed; that she was his big sister and there was no shame in being worried. “X”. It was their slang for all will be well, because I love you and understand you: you are not alone.

“Zora” they said together as they heard the front door open and close. Their mother, the reason they had their own slang, was home, and they had to release their embrace and dry their tears before she got upset, and became useless for days.

“Anyone home?” she called out from the foyer. “I have dinner for my two happy children!”

title: Dawn of the Night Age (x-post from /r/writing)

question: What does the story say about suffering?

answer: The sun burns furiously hot, suffocating the denizens of Little Rock. People in the Dusk Age are struggling to survive in a world that is foreign, hostile, and untamed.

question: What does the story say about the Midnight Age?


text:
THEORY OF LANGUAGE is a topic from theoretical linguistics and philosophy of language.[1] It has the goal of answering the questions “What is language?”[2][3]; “Why do languages have the properties they have?”[4]; or “What is the origin of language?”.

Even though much of the research in linguistics is descriptive or prescriptive, there exists an underlying assumption that terminological and methodological choices reflect the researcher's opinion of language.[5] Linguists are divided into different schools of thinking, with the nature–nurture debate as the main divide.[6] Some linguistics conferences and journals are focussed on a specific theory of language, while others disseminate a variety of views.[7]

Like in other human and social sciences, theories in linguistics can be divided into humanistic and sociobiological approaches.[8] Same terms, for example 'rationalism', 'functionalism', 'formalism' and 'constructionism', are used with different meanings in different contexts.[9]

Humanistic theories

Humanistic theories consider people as having an agentive role in the social construction of language. Language is primarily seen as a sociocultural phenomenon. This tradition emphasises culture, nurture, creativity and diversity.[10] A classical rationalist approach to language stems from the philosophy Age of Enlightenment. Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas[11] and Antoine Arnauld believed that people had created language in a step-by-step process to serve their psychological need to communicate with each other.[12] Thus, language is thought of as a rational human invention.

Cultural–historical approaches

During the 19th century, when sociological questions remained under psychology,[13] languages and language change were thought of as arising from human psychology and the collective unconscious mind of the community, shaped by its history, as argued by Moritz Lazarus, Heymann Steinthal and Wilhelm Wundt.[14] Advocates of Völkerpsychologie ('folk psychology') regarded language as Volksgeist; a social phenomenon conceived as the 'spirit of the nation'.

Wundt claimed that the human mind becomes organised according to the principles of syllogistic reasoning with social progress and education. He argued for a binary-branching model for the description of the mind, and syntax.[15] Folk psychology was imported to North American linguistics by Franz Boas[16] and Leonard Bloomfield who were the founders of a school of thought which was later nicknamed 'American structuralism'.[17][18]

Folk psychology became associated with German nationalism,[19] and after World War I Bloomfield apparently replaced Wundt's structural psychology with Albert Paul Weiss's behavioral psychology;[20] although Wundtian notions remained elementary for his linguistic analysis.[21] The Bloomfieldian school of linguistics was eventually reformed as a sociobiological approach by Noam Chomsky (see 'generative grammar' below).[22][23]

Since generative grammar's popularity began to wane towards the end of the 20th century, there has been a new wave of cultural anthropological approaches to the language question sparking a modern debate on the relationship of language and culture. Participants include Daniel Everett, Jesse Prinz, Nicholas Evans and Stephen Levinson.[24]

Structuralism: a sociological–semiotic theory

The study of culture and language developed in a different direction in Europe where Émile Durkheim successfully separated sociology from psychology, thus establishing it as an autonomous science.[25] Ferdinand de Saussure likewise argued for the autonomy of linguistics from psychology. He created a semiotic theory which would eventually give rise to the movement in human sciences known as structuralism, followed by functionalism or functional structuralism, post-structuralism and other similar tendencies.[26] The names structuralism and functionalism are derived from Durkheim's modification of Herbert Spencer's organicism which draws an analogy between social structures and the organs of an organism, each necessitated by its function.[27][28]

Saussure approaches the essence of language from two sides. For the one, he borrows ideas from Steinthal[29] and Durkheim, concluding that language is a 'social fact'. For the other, he creates a theory of language as a system in and for itself which arises from the association of concepts and words or expressions. Thus, language is a dual system of interactive sub-systems: a conceptual system and a system of linguistic forms. Neither of these can exist without the other because, in Saussure's notion, there are no (proper) expressions without meaning, but also no (organised) meaning without words or expressions. Language as a system does not arise from the physical world, but from the contrast between the concepts, and the contrast between the linguistic forms.[30]

Functionalism: language as a tool for communication

There was a shift of focus in sociology in the 1920s, from structural to functional explanation, or the adaptation of the social 'organism' to its environment. Post-Saussurean linguists, led by the Prague linguistic circle, began to study the functional value of the linguistic structure, with communication taken as the primary function of language in the meaning 'task' or 'purpose'. These notions translated into an increase of interest in pragmatics, with a discourse perspective (the analysis of full texts) added to the multilayered interactive model of structural linguistics. This gave rise to functional linguistics.[31]

Formalism: language as a mathematical–semiotic system

Structural and formal linguist Louis Hjelmslev considered the systemic organisation of the bilateral linguistic system fully mathematical, rejecting the psychological and sociological aspect of linguistics altogether. He considered linguistics as the comparison of the structures of all languages using formal grammars – semantic and discourse structures included.[32] Hjelmslev's idea is sometimes referred to as 'formalism'.[33]

Although generally considered as a structuralist,[34] Lucien Tesnière regarded meaning as giving rise to expression, but not vice versa, at least as regards the relationship between semantics and syntax. He considered the semantic plane as psychological, but syntax as being based on the necessity to break the two-dimensional semantic representation into linear form.[35]

Post-structuralism: language as a societal tool

The Saussurean idea of language as an interaction of the conceptual system and the expressive system was elaborated in philosophy, anthropology and other fields of human sciences by Claude Lévi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Julia Kristeva and many others. This movement was interested in the Durkheimian concept of language as a social fact or a rule-based code of conduct; but eventually rejected the structuralist idea that the individual cannot change the norm. Post-structuralists study how language affects our understanding of reality thus serving as a tool of shaping society.[36][37]

Language as an artificial construct

While the humanistic tradition stemming from 19th century Völkerpsychologie emphasises the unconscious nature of the social construction of language, some perspectives of post-structuralism and social constructionism regard human languages as man-made rather than natural. At this end of the spectrum, structural linguist Eugenio Coșeriu laid emphasis on the intentional construction of language.[38] Daniel Everett has likewise approached the question of language construction from the point of intentionality and free will.[39]

There were also some contacts between structural linguists and the creators of constructed languages. For example, Saussure's brother René de Saussure was an Esperanto activist, and the French functionalist André Martinet served as director of the International Auxiliary Language Association.

Sociobiological theories

In contrast to humanistic linguistics, sociobiological approaches consider language as a biological phenomena. Approaches to language as part of cultural evolution can be roughly divided into two main groups: genetic determinism which argues that languages stem from the human genome; and social Darwinism, as envisioned by August Schleicher and Max Müller, which applies principles and methods of evolutionary biology to linguistics. Because sociobiogical theories have been labelled as chauvinistic in the past, modern approaches, including Dual inheritance theory and memetics, aim to provide more sustainable solutions to the study of biology's role in language.[40]

Language as a genetically inherited phenomenon

Strong version ('rationalism')

The role of genes in language formation has been discussed and studied extensively. Proposing generative grammar, Noam Chomsky argues that language is fully caused by a random genetic mutation, and that linguistics is the study of universal grammar, or the structure in question.[41] Others, including Ray Jackendoff, point out that the innate language component could be the result of a series of evolutionary adaptations;[42] Steven Pinker argues that, because of these, people are born with a language instinct.

The random and the adaptational approach are sometimes referred to as formalism (or structuralism) and functionalism (or adaptationism), respectively, as a parallel to debates between advocates of structural and functional explanation in biology.[43] Also known as biolinguistics, the study of linguistic structures is parallelised with that of natural formations such as ferromagnetic droplets and botanic forms.[44] This approach became highly controversial at the end of the 20th century due to a lack of empirical support for genetics as an explanation of linguistic structures.[45][46]

More recent anthropological research aims to avoid genetic determinism. Behavioural ecology and dual inheritance theory, the study of gene–culture co-evolution, emphasise the role of culture as a human invention in shaping the genes, rather than vice versa.[47] It is known, for example, that since early humans started developing their language, the process paved way for genetic changes that would affect the vocal tract.

Weak version ('empiricism')

Some former generative grammarians argue that genes may nonetheless have an indirect effect on abstract features of language. This makes up yet another approach referred to as 'functionalism' which makes a weaker claim with respect to genetics. Instead of arguing for a specific innate structure, it is suggested that human physiology and neurological organisation may give rise to linguistic phenomena in a more abstract way.[48]

Based on a comparison of structures from multiple languages, John A. Hawkins suggests that the brain, as a syntactic parser, may find it easier to process some word orders than others, thus explaining their prevalence. This theory remains to be confirmed by psycholinguistic studies.[49]

Conceptual metaphor theory from George Lakoff's cognitive linguistics hypothesises that people have inherited from lower animals the ability for deductive reasoning based on visual thinking, which explains why languages make so much use of visual metaphors.[50][51]

Languages as species

It was thought in early evolutionary biology that languages and species can be studied according to the same principles and methods. The idea of languages and cultures as fighting for living space became highly controversial as it was accused of being a pseudoscience that caused two world wars, and social Darwinism was banished from humanities by 1945. In the concepts of Schleicher and Müller, both endorsed by Charles Darwin, languages could be either organisms or populations.[52]

A neo-Darwinian version of this idea was introduced as memetics by Richard Dawkins in 1976. In this thinking, ideas and cultural units, including words, are compared to viruses or replicators. Although meant as a softer alternative to genetic determinism, memetics has been widely discredited as pseudoscience,[53] and it has failed to establish itself as a recognised field of scientific research.[54] The language–species analogy nonetheless continues to enjoy popularity in linguistics and other human sciences.[55] Since the 1990s there have been numerous attempts to revive it in various guises. As Jamin Pelkey explains,

  “Theorists who explore such analogies usually feel obliged to pin language to some specific sub-domain of biotic growth. William James selects “zoölogical evolution”, William Croft prefers botanical evolution, but most theorists zoom in to more microbiotic levels – some claiming that linguistic phenomena are analogous to the cellular level and others arguing for the genetic level of biotic growth. For others, language is a parasite; for others still, language is a virus ... The disagreements over grounding analogies do not stop here.”[56]

Like many other approaches to linguistics, these, too, are collectively called 'functionalism'. They include various frameworks of usage-based linguistics,[57] language as a complex adaptive system,[58] construction grammar,[59][60] emergent linguistics,[61][62] and others.

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title: Theory of language

question: What are the goals of the theory of language?

answer: The goals of the various theory of language are answering the questions "what is language?", why do languages have the properties they have?", and "what is the origin of language?".

question: What are the humanistic theories of language?

answer: Humanistic theories of language consider people as having an agentive role in the social construction of language; language is primarily seen as a sociocultural phenomenon. Language is a rational human invention.

question: What are the sociobiological theories of language?

answer: Sociobiological theories of language consider language as a biological phenomena. These theories have been labelled as chauvinistic in the past.


text:
The only PhD student to work under John Nash is using blockchain technology to bring to precious metals and mining into the twenty-first century.

Ampersand Markets founder and CEO Seth Patinkin said he has long been interested in how the metals and mining industries operate throughout their production chains. That interest was stoked when he worked under famed mathematician John Nash while in grad school at Princeton.

“We discussed numerous times how he’d like to have a universal currency backed by a precious metal adoption model,” Mr. Patinkin said.

The founders borrowed from the line of thinking in designing Ampersand Markets, Mr. Patinkin explained. Participating mining companies produce silver which comes with a Digital Right that allows buyers the ability to obtain a specific amount of silver represented by the AXSI token. The Digital Right’s value will be consistent with market forces and will scale with the Ampersand ecosystem. A blockchain-based hybrid mineral tokens exchange is also in development.

This is a significant improvement over the standard precious metals mining and trading process, Mr. Patinkin added. The physical assets can be securely stored in a cost efficient manner. Under the traditional system, when financing a mining operation, a company accepts money up front in exchange for a discounted stream later on once production begins. That comes with extensive legal work and administration fees, and it might be 10 or 20 years before an investor sees any return.

“The old world way in which this is done is heavily papered and is a significant barrier to entry,” Mr. Patinkin said. “The in-ground financing problem just begs for modernization.”

Conversely, Ampersand’s method can produce returns much faster, Mr. Patinkin said. Investors can purchase an interest in an in-ground mining operation without the significant upfront cost and then enjoy the 10-15 percent discounts that streaming mining companies receive. That lower entry cost allows more investors to participate. All mining investments are in politically stable countries in North and South America.

[]
Seth Patinkin
The AXSI token’s design on the EOS platform is significant for many reasons, Mr. Patinkin explained. It handles up to 3,000 transactions per second and supports good governance so Ampersand can apply rules to groups of users which serves as credentials. That helps with compliance and combats improper trading.

Ampersand’s business case is clear, but does Mr. Patinkin see any risk posed by regulators playing catch-up to the technology? The short answer is not much. Ampersand has spoken with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and recent SEC guidance also helped.

“Overall, the new SEC guidance from early April will make it easier for token businesses to operate domestically,” Mr. Patinkin said. “Regulators are actually forward looking and encourage legitimate uses of tokens, especially when solving actual business problems, which is the camp we’re in.”

Mr. Patinkin said Ampersand’s hybrid token model is a direct response to the engineering failures of both pure digital assets and physical asset tokens. Because most have no intrinsic value, digital assets are prone to volatile price swings. Most asset-backed tokens are placeholders where one gram of the precious metal is equated to a value of a token. Such tokens can frequently trade at or below the spot price.

“That is not a very compelling proposition,” Mr. Patinkin said.

See also

["Santander? Is that the new housekeeper?"]

A second method is a dual token set-up where the common framework is to have a placeholder token and also a security token to generate funds. Mr. Patinkin isn’t a fan of those either.

“Investors pile into the (security) token and there is little incentive to adopt the placeholder,” he said.

Ampersand will only be successful if they can attract important miners, streamers, dealers, refiners and finance firms. The pitch is made easier by the preparation Ampersand has done in advance, Mr. Patinkin said.

“Others shotgunned their technology to market and trivialized custody and arms-length care that needs to be exercised with physical assets. Others fail to adopt a model for actual parties to use the token.

“Our technology is already built. In 2018 and 2019 we were completing it with the tech team under (founder and CTO) Satya Avala. We’ll be present in the market with a product that is functional and complete.”

question: What are the benefits of Ampersand's blockchain technology over traditional mainstream methods of investing in precious metals?

answer: The old world way in which this is done is heavily papered and is a significant barrier to entry. Ampersand’s method can produce returns much faster. Investors can purchase an interest in an in-ground mining operation without the significant upfront cost and then enjoy the 10-15 percent discounts that streaming mining companies receive. That lower entry cost allows more investors to participate.