Tim Walz ignored a plea to protect kids?!

Taxpayer funded Politico is reporting tonight that MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Gqrcia is trying to get the judge to issue a gag order on both Attorney General Pam Bondi and DHS Secretary . . .

The state of Florida is committed to $245 million toward the construction of "Alligator Alcatraz," the Everglades immigration detention facility which is due to close in days. An email obtained by The Associated Press Wednesday from Kevin Guthrie, head of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, indicates the facility will likely soon be empty, after a federal judge ruled it must cease to operate. Newsweek contacted Governor DeSantis's office and the Department of...

A top Florida official said the state-run immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” will likely be empty within a few days after all detainees are deported or transferred to other facilities, according to an email shared with the Associated Press. “We are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days,” Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie wrote in an Aug. 22 email to South Florida Rabbi Mario...

Florida taxpayers could be on the hook for $218 million the state spent to convert a remote training airport in the Everglades into an immigration detention center dubbed “ Alligator Alcatraz.” The center may soon be completely empty as a judge upheld her decision late Wednesday ordering operations to wind down indefinitely.

Learning to speak English must be confusing when it's not your first language, especially considering how many distinct English accents there are. If you learn English strictly from American teachers, you'll end up pronouncing the language differently than if your teachers are British, Australian, or New Zealander.One difference between American and British English is the way the two treat the "r' sound. American English uses the hard "r" sound (which is one of the rarest linguistic sounds in the world) a lot. Brits generally drop it at the end of words—father becomes "fath-uh," water becomes "wat-uh," and so on—and yet, Brits also insert "r' sounds where there isn't a letter "r," which is super confusing for Americans. How Brits use the "r" sound is confusing to Americans. Photo credit: CanvaCase in point: I watched Hamilton on stage in London, and in the final number, the whole cast sang "Angelic-er and Eliza were at his side when he died." How did they turn Angelica into Angelic-er? (Especially when they were supposed to be using American accents?)A linguist named Derek explains that the inserted "r" in British English serves a specific purpose—as a placeholder to distinguish between the vowel sound at the end of one word and the vowel sound at the beginning of the next word. @derek__ling Answering more accent questions #language #linguistics #accents #english So "America is" becomes "Americ-er is" and "banana is" becomes "banan-er is." (Or "banana rizz" as one clever commenter pointed out.) It's called an "intrusive R" and it sounds downright strange to the American ear. We're used to hearing "r" sounds all the time, but not in places where there isn't actually an "r" anywhere to be found. When a word ends in a vowel and the next word begins with a vowel, Americans just slide the vowels together or sometimes put a little glottal stop in between the vowel sounds. British English differentiates them with an "r" sound. It's an unspoken rule—they don't learn it at school or anything, as it's dialectical, not grammatical. In fact, Brits often don't even realize they're doing it until it's pointed out to them. - YouTube www.youtube.com So if British people are perfectly capable of pronouncing an "r" at the end of a word, why do they not pronounce the "r" at the end of words that actually have a letter "r"? That's an interesting, if not totally clear, story. People might assume that Americans were the ones who added the "r" pronunciation to English or that it must be a carryover from Scottish accents that pronounce the "r" with gusto. But in actuality, British people in general used to pronounce the "r" as well. That's right. British English actually used to sound more like American English, not the other way around. How exactly the change happened has been a topic of some debate among linguists, but the gist is that England's non-rhotic accent (the accent that doesn't pronounce the "r") came about as a bit of socioeconomic snobbery in the 18th century. Certain classes of Brits started putting on the accent as a way of differentiating themselves from those of lower classes, at least in certain parts of England. Toss in a trendy fascination with the French around that time, and voila! Bye-bye "r" sounds. Americans love the "r" sound. Giphy But back to the present confusion about when the "r" gets pronounced. As Derek points out, both British and American folks often get it wrong when imitating one another's accents. Brits will add "r" to the end of words that end in a vowel simply because they think that's what Americans do, and Americans will remove the "r" sound where it's actually used in British English. For instance, British pronunciation of "father" would be "fathuh," but not when a word that starts with a vowel comes after it, like "my father and I." In that case, the Brit would pronounce the "r" but an American imitating a British accent would probably say, "my fathuh and I." Tricky, isn't it? But now we know. If the next word starts with a vowel, Brits say "r" at the end of words ending with a vowel or with an "r." You can follow Derek on TikTok for more linguistic fun.

In celebration for the upcoming 25th anniversary of his heretical cult classic Dogma, director and writer Kevin Smith recalled what it was like working with the late great Alan Rickman, who played Metatron—the sardonic, winged messenger of God. Which, if you haven’t seen it, please do. Rickman is every bit as iconic in this as he is in Harry Potter or Die Hard. Speaking of Die Hard, this brings us to our first fun anecdote Smith shared while appearing on The Rich Eisen Show. Eisen first asked Smith if at any point while filming Dogma, did he start “fanboying” over Rickman because of his legendary portrayal of Hans Gruber. Smith immediately said yes, and added that Rickman was apparently a fan boy of Jason Mews (the Jay of Jay & Silent Bob), and even regaled him as an “American icon,” and “the best that America can be.” Alan Rickman as Metatron 'Dogma' media4.giphy.com “Still to this day, if I try to correct him on something, [Mews]’ll be like, ‘which one of us is the American icon?” Smith quipped. But the real funny bit is what happened during the one and only time Smith had to correct Rickman on a line reading. At one point in the movie, Metatron says “Wax on, wax off,” which many of us might instantly recognize as a reference to Karate Kid. Rickman, who had not seen Karate Kid, did not, and originally delivered the line with Shakespearean gusto. So Smith went over to him, explained the reference and gave him a line reading (“which actors hate”). “He turned to me…and he goes…’Royally trained, Kevin,’” Smith said, giggling. - YouTube www.youtube.com Honestly, can’t you just see Rickman delivering the line that way? Is there a way we can all witness that greatness?!Smith would also share that the miraculous casting of Rickman happened “by accident.” Thinking him too serious of an actor to do his comedy, Smith never reached out. But word got out that Rickman loved Chasing Amy (one of Kevin Smith’s most highly acclaimed projects) and so he was sent the Dogma script. It was an immediate yes. On Facebook and Instagram, Smith even shared the deal memo sent to Rickman, which showed that he was paid scale, aka “the minimum wage of the movie biz.” “So that means Alan blessed us with his perfect performance for way below what he was worth (and way less than he’d make as Snape in the @harrypotter flicks he’d do later),” Smith wrote.While they started off as creative admirers, Dogma would cement a genuine, lasting friendship between Smith and Rickman. While speaking with GQ, Smith said, "We became friends, like that was something I never understood until late in his life. Honestly, until he passed away. I always just thought that he was just being polite because we made Dogma together and stuff. But he was genuinely interested in me and my family."By the way you haven’t had the chance to see Rickman do his thing in this movie on the big screen, you’re in luck! Throughout September, DOGMA will be showing in theaters across the U.S., along with exclusive Q&A content, via Iconic Events Releasing.

by Matt Agorist, The Free Thought Project: Private prison giants now hold 90 percent of detained immigrants and aim to triple capacity for $1.5 billion in revenue. (Truthout) Amid escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric and legislative crackdowns at the state and federal levels, private prison corporations are once again expanding their grip on U.S. detention policy. In […]

by Mac Slavo, SHTF Plan: A highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak has occurred on three farms in Bulgaria. The H5N1 bird flu virus was detected on three farms with a total flock of 28,000 birds in the town of Rakovski, the Paris-based WOAH said, citing a report from the Bulgarian authorities. At least two […]