$29,000 for an average used car? Would-be buyers are aghast

DETROIT (AP) — A couple of months ago, a woman paid a visit to Jeff Schrier’s used car lot in Omaha, Nebraska. She was on a tight budget, she said, and was desperate for a vehicle to commute to work.

She was shown three cars priced at her limit, roughly $7,500. Schrier said the woman was stunned.

″‘That’s what I get for $7,500? ’” he recalled her saying. The vehicles had far more age or mileage on them than she had expected for something to replace a car that had been totaled in a crash.

The woman eventually settled on a 2013 Toyota Scion with a whopping 160,000 miles on it. Schrier isn’t sure he made any profit on the deal. “We just helped her out,” he said.

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Shocka! Trans prisoners ‘switch gender again’ once freed from women’s units

Female prisoners in Scottish jails have told how transgender inmates serving sentences alongside them switched back to their male birth gender after being released.

The disclosure — in a study published in the British Journal of Criminology — has raised fresh concerns about self-identification of gender posing a risk to women’s safety as first minister Nicola Sturgeon prepares to press ahead with gender recognition legislation this year.

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The Horror! Americans seeking to renounce their citizenship are stuck with it for now

In recent years, Michael has come to regard the United States, the nation of which he has been a citizen all his life, as an abusive parent.

“I can acknowledge my past association with that person while at the same time wanting to keep future association to a minimum,” he said.

Michael – the name is false as he requested anonymity to avoid being inundated with hate mail – found his disaffection with his native country reach crunch point in 2020. The chaotic end of the Donald Trump era combined with the inequities exposed by the Covid pandemic made him despair of being an American.

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Twitter Permanently Suspends Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Personal Account

Twitter permanently suspended the personal account of Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene over repeated violations of its COVID-19 misinformation policy, the company confirmed early Sunday.

… When reached for comment, Twitter confirmed Greene’s account was suspended, and the company said she committed “repeated” violations of its policy on COVID-19 misinformation.

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South Korean crosses demilitarised zone in rare defection to North

A South Korean has crossed the heavily fortified border in a rare defection to North Korea, South Korea’s military has said.

Years of repression and poverty in North Korea have led more than 30,000 people to flee to the South in the decades since Korean war hostilities ended with an armistice, but crossings in the other direction are extremely rare.

The military joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said it carried out a search operation after detecting the person on the eastern side of the demilitarised zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Saturday evening.

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Retired General Calls for Purge of US Military Amid Fears Rogue Elements Might Attempt Coup in 2024

Rogue elements within the US military might stage a coup attempt in the US after the upcoming 2024 presidential election, US Army Maj. Gen (ret) Paul Eaton has warned.

“The real question is, does everybody understand who the duly elected president is? If that is not a clear cut understanding, that can infect the rank and file or at any level in the US military,” Eaton told NPR.

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The everyday foods that could become luxuries

meat and guns

Everyday foods such as coffee, meat and spices could become luxury items due to global climate impacts and changing tastes.

Ordering lobster in a restaurant or serving it at a party is considered the height of gastronomic sophistication.

But that hasn’t always been the case – lobster has worked its way up from humble beginnings to become a gourmet delicacy.

In the 18th Century, lobster was considered a highly undesirable food that wealthy families steered clear of. The crustacean was so abundant along the east coast of the US that it was used as fertiliser and served in prisons. Kentucky politician John Rowan quipped: “Lobster shells about a house are looked upon as signs of poverty and degradation.”

Shortages mean we’ll have to eat bugs right? Gee that seems awfully convenient.

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Professor’s redefinition of pedophilia could help offenders demand rights

On Nov. 8, Old Dominion sociology and criminology professor Allyn Walker gave an interview in which he asserted the need to destigmatize pedophiles by redefining them as “minor-attracted persons” (MAPs). Walker stated, “We have a tendency to want to categorize people with these attractions as evil or morally corrupt,” and that when people “hear the term ‘pedophile,’ they automatically assume that it means a sex offender, and that isn’t true.”

Shortly after this interview, students at Old Dominion protested over the professor’s attempt to obfuscate the nature of sexual predators. Although the university furloughed Walker, the professor continued to defend his stance while attacking his critics as hostile to academic freedom and misguided by “rightwing media.”

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