English speakers have a penchant for shortening words into contractions — even if the words are already brief. Take, for instance, Joan Jett’s 1980s anthem “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.” In this case, “and” is reduced to a one-letter contraction: ‘n.’  The rock legend embraced a catchy spelling variation of “rock and roll,” but this quirky twist isn’t used by everyone. The AP Stylebook calls for “rock ‘n’ roll,” but Merriam-Webster spells out “rock and roll” (with “rock ‘n’ roll as a variant), and the hall of fame for the music genre uses an ampersand (&) in its title. Nevertheless, you don’t have to be a rock star to use the contraction.The short ‘n’ is often reserved for select phrases, especially food items, as seen in “fish ‘n’ chips” and “mac ‘n’ cheese,” or in proper names, such as the moniker of hip-hop group “Salt-N-Pepa.” Yet other famous duos, such as “peanut butter and jelly” or “Batman and Robin,” don’t share the same treatment. The decision of when to use ‘n’ isn’t about strict grammar rules but rather personal preference and what feels most natural in context.The use of ‘n’ is far from a new trend — we’ve been shortening it for more than 150 years. The Oxford English Dictionary traces an early recorded usage back to an 1858 edition of The Atlantic Monthly: “To beat the taown ‘n’ the keounty.” The practice gained further momentum in the early 20th century as newspapers and magazines shifted to a more casual tone.Yet, when opting to shorten “and,” there’s still the matter of apostrophes: How many are there, and where do they go? While no clear-cut rule dictates the number or positioning, the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster favor bookended apostrophes, as seen in their preferred spellings of “mac ‘n’ cheese” and “rock ‘n’ roll.” Variants with single apostrophe placement, such as “rock n’ roll” or “rock ‘n roll,” are far less common. (However, the first documented appearance of the music genre in print was in a 1938 song lyric, spelled “rock an’ roll.”)  The bookended-apostrophe convention follows a long-standing English tradition in which missing letters are replaced with apostrophes to form contractions, as seen in “don’t” (“do not”) and “’til” (“until”). In the case of “rock ‘n’ roll,” both the first and last letters were dropped, justifying apostrophes at both ends.While weighing the pros ‘n’ cons of using ‘n’ in your writing, consider this: The decision should be guided by context and tone. It’s best suited for informal conversations or where it’s a stylistic touch, such as on restaurant menus or in social media posts. The beauty of informal contractions is that they make language feel more fun and approachable when used appropriately.

5 guides to read before you buy any new gear

How to Buy Guide Center

Police1’s “How to Buy” Guide center offers free guides on how to approach purchasing specific corrections products, from apparel to vehicles. Written by leading law enforcement experts, our guides feature key considerations before purchasing, how to implement post-purchase, and questions to ask vendors to ensure you’re making the right purchasing decision. FULL ARTICLE HERE

EDITOR’S NOTE: DON’T KNOWABOUT YOU, BUT I’LL TAKE CA’s EARTHQUAKES ANY DAY OVER THE TORNADOES ON THE SOUTHEAST@

Ark. officer seriously injured after tornado throws cruiser

Diaz Police Sergeant Richard Morris was inside his vehicle when the EF-4 tornado, with peak winds of 190 mph, lifted it and tossed it several feet

Social Security falsely declared 82-year-old man dead, stopped benefits

Ned Johnson and his wife Pam confirmed the details of the story in a telephone interview and provided an update.

In early 2025, an 82-year-old man named Ned Johnson in Seattle was declared “dead” by the U.S. Social Security and deprived of his benefits.
In March 2025, in the first weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump instituted the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and appointed tech magnate Elon Musk as its figurehead, a rumor began to spread that an 82-year-old man had lost his Social Security benefits after DOGE mistakenly declared him dead.For example, a post on X said DOGE had “stolen” the man’s Social Security payments and canceled his Medicare health insurance (archived):

 

STATE OF THE UNION

Kash Patel’s FBI Oldies from a Farsider for July 19, 2018akes Down 300 Violent Gang Members in Massive Crackdown

The FBI, under President Donald Trump’s leadership, has arrested more than 300 violent gang members over the past two weeks, marking a significant push to combat crime and drug trafficking across the country. The operation has led to the seizure of large amounts of narcotics, weapons, currency, and other illicit goods.

Kash Patel, a senior Trump administration official, highlighted the scale of the crackdown and its impact on public safety.

“In just two short weeks, we have arrested over 300 violent felonies gang members, including MS-13 and 18 gangsters,” Patel said.

“We have taken seizure of hundreds of pounds of narcotics and hundreds of weapons and currency and illicit goods. That’s just what you can do when you put the brave men and women of law enforcement in one room and get the hell out of their way. And we are going to do that in every state across this country.”

Patel specifically pointed to law enforcement success in Massachusetts, where authorities federally indicted more than 50 violent gang members and drug traffickers.

Nearly 200 kilograms of fentanyl were seized in recent weeks as part of the operation.

“In Massachusetts alone, in the last couple of weeks, they have indicted federally over 50 violent gang members and narco traffickers, seizing almost 200 kilograms of fentanyl,” Patel stated, as the audience responded with applause.

The initiative comes as the administration intensifies its efforts to combat the nationwide drug overdose crisis, which claims American lives at an alarming rate.

“There is no time for us to waste on this job,” Patel emphasized.

EL SALVADOR KNOWS HOW TO TREAT GANG MEMBERS

In this photo provided by El Salvador’s presidential press office, prison guards transfer deportees from the U.S., alleged to be Venezuelan gang members, to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, Sunday, March 16, 2025.

AP/El Salvador presidential press office

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — The crown jewel of El Salvador’s aggressive anti-crime strategy — a mega-prison where visitation, recreation and education are not allowed — became the latest tool in U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration on Sunday, when hundreds of immigrants facing deportation were transferred there.

Politics

U.S. deports hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador, despite court order

The arrival of the immigrants, alleged by the U.S. to be members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, took place under an agreement for which the Trump administration will pay the government of President Nayib Bukele $6 million for one year of services.

Bukele has made the Central American country’s stark, harsh prisons a trademark of his fight against crime. In 2023, he opened the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, where the immigrants were sent over the weekend even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring their deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members.

I WONDER WHY WE NEVER HEARD ABOUT THIS DURING THE BIDEN PRESIDENCY?

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2025/03/19/waste_of_the_day_federal_buildings_need_370_billion_of_repairs_1097925.html

Waste of the Day: Federal Buildings Need $370 Billion of Repairs

By John Murawski, RealClearInvestigations

Topline: Congress is fond of ignoring current issues and pushing the problems onto future taxpayers. The philosophy is already causing issues at federal buildings, where backlogged repairs have piled up and will now cost an estimated $370 billion as of 2024, according to the Government Accountability Office.

It’s an increase of $87 billion compared to the $283 billion estimate from 2023.

Key facts: The cost of deferred maintenance skyrocketed in the last few years, as the 277,000 buildings owned by the federal government needed an estimated $171 billion of repairs in 2017.

There is no easy solution. The government spent $10.3 billion on building repairs in 2023, meaning officials would need to allocate an extra 36 years’ worth of repairs budget to resolve all the backlogged issues — a tall task as Congress looks to cut spending.

But ignoring the problem is also unwise. The GAO explained “Unless this trend reverses, federal assets will continue to deteriorate and need premature replacement, which can be significantly more expensive than the cost of repairs had they not been delayed.”

The Department of Defense is responsible for almost three quarters of the deferred maintenance ($271 billion). Some military barracks are at risk of sewage overflow and have fire safety systems that do not function, according to the GAO.

The remaining $99 billion is spread among several federal agencies, but four of them — the General Services Administration and the Departments of Health and Human Services, Interior, and Energy — have not given Congress “sufficient information” about how the backlogged repairs affect day-to-day work, the GAO said.

The federal government also pays for security at many of its buildings, but some of the guards seemingly do not pass muster.

As a test, GAO employees attempted to sneak prohibited items into 27 federal buildings. They succeeded “about half the time.”

Background: To make matters worse, these buildings aren’t even being used: only 6% of government workers in the office full time, with the majority continuing to work from home long after the pandemic shut down offices. Many federal buildings are almost completely empty — buildings in D.C. are 12% occupied, on average, Open the Books found.

Summary: It’s a clear sign the government has gotten too large when it has acquired more property than it can afford to occupy or maintain.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com

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Death & Dying | George Carlin | Again! (1978)